McCain, Feinstein demand more Afghan troops

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By Sean Lengell

Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican, said the White House would be committing "an error of historic proportions" if it doesn't accede to Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal's request for tens of thousands more troops in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California upped the pressure for a major Afghanistan troop surge from the Democratic side, saying it makes no sense to stay in Afghanistan and not grant the general the forces he says are necessary.

Mr. McCain said he doesn't think the United States can win in Afghanistan unless President Obama sends at least 40,000 more troops to augment the 68,000 scheduled to be there by year's end - as suggested by Gen. McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan.

"To not give the resources ... to our leaders in the field, given in light of the experiences we've had, would be a fundamental error that would lead to consequences for a long, long time," Mr. McCain said on CNN's "State of the Union" program Sunday.

Ms. Feinstein, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, noted that a total withdrawal from Afghanistan was taken off the table by Mr. Obama in last week's congressional meetings.

Given that, the California Democrat said, "if you don't want to take the [general's] recommendations, then you put your people in such jeopardy."

"I don't know how you put somebody in who was as crackerjack as General McChrystal, who gives the president very solid recommendations, and not take those recommendations if you're not going to pull out," Ms. Feinstein said Sunday on ABC's "This Week."

Ms. Feinstein has pressed for a timetable for withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, though she hasn't called for definitive date. "Should we stay there for 10, 12 years? ... I don't think so," she said, arguing that this is why a major force increase and a switch to a counterinsurgency strategy, as happened in Iraq in 2007 and 2008, is necessary.

She added that the "mission is in serious jeopardy" and the president needs to make a decision on troop levels "sooner, rather than later."

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, Michigan Democrat, said he doesn't support sending more combat troops to Afghanistan now. Instead, he said, more focus should be placed on strengthening the Afghan army and encouraging low-level Taliban members to abandon the militants.