Utah delegation is split on plans for Afghanistan

Two members of Utah's congressional delegation gave at least partial support Tuesday to President Barack Obama's new Afghanistan plans, while three criticized his call for 30,000 more troops in a temporary surge.

Rep. Jim Matheson, the delegation's lone Democrat, and Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, gave some support. But Sen. Orrin Hatch and Reps. Rob Bishop and Jason Chaffetz, all R-Utah, mostly found faults with it.

Matheson said, "I think the president, our military leadership and our extraordinary men and women in uniform deserve support to finish the job against al-Qaida and then to come home."

Matheson added, "Beyond sending more troops, the president also appropriately laid out a more comprehensive plan." He added, "As long as the goal is the disruption and destruction of al-Qaida and its leaders, that must be the job for our allies and our troops."

Bennett's partial support also came with a slap to Obama.

Bennett said that Obama "has access to far more classified and current information than I do. For that reason, I am prepared to support the effort to defend America's interest in Afghanistan with a surge in troop levels. However, I do question the wisdom of a pre-announced exit that runs the risk of hampering, not furthering, our effort to achieve a solution in Afghanistan."

Meanwhile, Bishop said he feels like he's returned to the Vietnam War era. "I feel like I'm back in the Johnson administration — with domestic spending out of control and military decisions being made in secret without Congress being fully informed."

However, Bishop said he will try to give deference to commanders in the field as he weighs whether to support Obama's plan over coming days. And regardless of how he feels about any final plan, he said, "I will continue to work for adequate funding and additional resources for our troops — something I think the administration and congressional leaders have not adequately done."

Hatch complained, "It is evident the president's plan for Afghanistan has not maximized our forces' chances of success. … The president has handicapped our forces by failing to provide the number of troops requested by his hand-picked commander, Gen. McChrystal."

Hatch added, "The president's plan appears to set arbitrary withdrawal deadlines. History shows withdrawal decisions must be determined by the conditions on the ground, not arbitrary deadlines. Coincidentally, the president's arbitrary deadline assumes the war will be winding down and troops returning home just when the administration is ramping up its campaign for re-election."

Chaffetz on Monday, a day before the president's speech, called for Obama to send the troops home now and withdraw from Afghanistan. But he also said if Obama chooses to remain there, as he has, that the president should give commanders all the resources they request to bring involvement there to a close — and noted they requested more than 30,000 more troops.

After the speech, Chaffetz said Tuesday, "I continue to worry that he is trying to cut the cake down the middle. Go big or go home is still my mantra," adding that the U.S., if it is in Afghanistan, should send overwhelming force to secure the country.

e-mail: lee@desnews.com