In a separate hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said she agrees 100 percent with Obama’s plan, which she said took into account widely divergent views among his national security team and “pressing” domestic needs.
Clinton came under skeptical questioning from both parties over the level of U.S. spending and sacrifice in Afghanistan. But she asserted that despite the “many failings” of the government of President Hamid Karzai and the “many challenges that remain” in Afghanistan, “life is better for most Afghans,” and there is broad evidence of progress. “We are, and should be, encouraged by what we have accomplished,” Clinton said.
“There is no jumping ship here. Quite the contrary,” Mullen told the House committee. “We will have at our disposal the great bulk of the surge forces throughout this — and most of the next — fighting season.”
“Let me be candid, however,” Mullen said. “No commander ever wants to sacrifice fighting power in the middle of a war. And no decision to demand that sacrifice is without risk.”
Mullen said that despite his initial skepticism, he was comfortable with the president’s decision. “Only the president, in the end, can really determine the acceptable level of risk we must take. I believe he has done so.”
Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, said in separate Senate testimony that Obama decided to pursue a “more aggressive” drawdown than the military had recommended in Afghanistan.
“That is understandable in the sense that there are broader considerations beyond those of a military commander,” Petraeus told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, which is considering Obama’s nomination of him to be the next director of the CIA. “The fact is there has never been a commander in military history” who got everything he wanted, the general added. He said he agreed with Mullen that the risks associated with the faster drawdown “are at the margin.”
“Ultimately the decision was made,” Petraeus said. “Obviously I support that and will do everything I can in my remaining time as commander to implement it.” If confirmed as CIA director, he said, he would “do the same from that position as well.”
Obama’s military commanders had requested that the bulk of the surge forces remain in Afghanistan through the end of next year, giving them another full fighting season at nearly current strength in addition to the one underway. But the president also faced growing calls from Vice President Biden and other advisers in the White House for all of the surge forces to return as soon as the end of this year.
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