By The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Reflecting a war-weary nation, the Senate voted overwhelmingly on Thursday for an accelerated withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan after more than a decade of fighting.
Although the vote was on a nonbinding amendment to a Defense policy bill, its significance could not be discounted amid the current discussions.
Thirteen Republicans, including Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, the top GOP lawmaker on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, backed the measure.
Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., its chief sponsor, argued that al-Qaida is stronger in other parts of the world and that nation-building in Afghanistan has gone off track. His measure endorsed Obama’s timetable to withdraw all combat troops by the end of 2014 but pressed for a quicker pace, without specifying how that would be achieved.
“It is time to end this war, end the longest war in United States history,” Merkley said during Senate debate.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Thursday that the United States will need to keep troops in Afghanistan even after the combat mission ends in 2014 because al-Qaida remains in the country and is trying to strengthen its influence.
Panetta would not say how many American troops he thinks will be needed to conduct that mission, nor did he mention a time period.
The overall defense bill authorizes $631 billion for weapons, ships, aircraft and a 1.7 percent pay raise for military personnel.
The White House has threatened to veto the legislation in its current form, citing limits on the president’s authority in handling detainees at the U.S. military facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and restrictions on cuts to the Air National Guard and the Air Force Reserve.
Read more: http://triblive.com/usworld/nation/3048784-74/afghanistan-senate-troops-war-military-defense-obama-vote-2014-bill#ixzz2DkPgSv3T
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