WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s troop buildup in Afghanistan began having an impact even before the first group of additional soldiers were deployed, Sen. Al Franken said Wednesday.
Franken, D-Minn., said Obama’s Dec. 1 announcement that he would send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan and begin withdrawal in July 2011 spurred the Afghan government to accelerate recruiting for its army and police to provide security once U.S. forces leave.
“They got so many recruits they had to cut them off at a certain point because they don’t have enough trainers,” Franken said.
Although Obama was soundly criticized for announcing a withdrawal date, Franken said it has turned out to be a “brilliant touch, because everyone there knows now they’re going to have to become full partners, and they are.”
Franken spoke to reporters in a teleconference from an airport in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on his way back to Minnesota from a four-day visit to Afghanistan and Pakistan with Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Franken said he met with troops from Minnesota, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and other officials and U.S. military leaders, including Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top commander in Afghanistan.
Based on his talks with McChrystal and others, Franken said he was “cautiously optimistic” about the prospects for success under Obama’s new strategy. Part of that strategy, he said, involves an intense counterinsurgency against Taliban forces.
“I feel better than I did before I got there,” said Franken, who has been leery of Obama’s plan.
“I don’t like sending 30,000 more troops there because Franni and I have attended 13 funerals since I’ve been sworn in,” Franken said, referring to soldiers’ funerals he and his wife have attended. But he said he likely will vote to fund the surge.
While in Pakistan, Franken said he got a sense that the government there is strong and secure and is making inroads in uprooting terrorists.
“They’ve made some excellent steps in pursuing some of the violent extremists in Pakistan,” he said.
