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Durbin calls for quitting Afghanistan
Durbin calls for quitting Afghanistan - UPI.com
Published: June 8, 2011 at 1:04 PM
WASHINGTON, June 8 (UPI) -- Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., said it's time for the United States to get out of Afghanistan, withdrawing many more troops than the administration has proposed.
Interviewed on MSNBC Wednesday, Durbin, the assistant Senate majority leader, said: "It's time to bring the troops home. The president said we would start the middle of this year and we should. In a dramatic fashion. Bring the troops home.
"We cannot afford [it]. It's unsustainable. To continue to lose these lives in Afghanistan and to spend $10 (billion) to $12 billion a month in this country? We have to set finite goals and we have to declare when we have reached them that we're coming home and leaving it to the Afghans."
Durbin noted he voted in 2001 to send troops to Afghanistan "to get al-Qaida after what they did to us on 9/11. I didn't dream I'd be here 10 years later still talking about a war that's costing us so much in human lives and $10 billion a month."
Durbin said he'd "like to see a lot more" troops leave than the 3,000 to 5,000 troops the administration has discussed withdrawing this summer.
Durbin also said he would support a resolution asserting congressional authority over the intervention in Libya.
Durbin calls for quitting Afghanistan - UPI.com
Published: June 8, 2011 at 1:04 PM
WASHINGTON, June 8 (UPI) -- Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., said it's time for the United States to get out of Afghanistan, withdrawing many more troops than the administration has proposed.
Interviewed on MSNBC Wednesday, Durbin, the assistant Senate majority leader, said: "It's time to bring the troops home. The president said we would start the middle of this year and we should. In a dramatic fashion. Bring the troops home.
"We cannot afford [it]. It's unsustainable. To continue to lose these lives in Afghanistan and to spend $10 (billion) to $12 billion a month in this country? We have to set finite goals and we have to declare when we have reached them that we're coming home and leaving it to the Afghans."
Durbin noted he voted in 2001 to send troops to Afghanistan "to get al-Qaida after what they did to us on 9/11. I didn't dream I'd be here 10 years later still talking about a war that's costing us so much in human lives and $10 billion a month."
Durbin said he'd "like to see a lot more" troops leave than the 3,000 to 5,000 troops the administration has discussed withdrawing this summer.
Durbin also said he would support a resolution asserting congressional authority over the intervention in Libya.