Grumbling on Capitol Hill About Administration’s Timeline for Afghanistan

James Phillips / July 19, 2010

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told Senate Republicans last week that he would try to fix the problem caused by the Obama Administration’s mixed messages about its commitment to the war in Afghanistan. Alex Bolton Friday reported in The Hill that Gates told a group of Republican Senators in a closed door meeting on Tuesday that he also was frustrated by the inconsistent statements on Afghanistan policy made by various members of the Administration and that he would do his best to clear up the uncertainty in the future.

Senator Pat Roberts (R–KS.) was quoted in the article as saying: “This administration can’t have one person speaking to a political element and others speaking to the military situation and others speaking to the geopolitical element; we’ve got to get the team working together and have one person talking about it, and it should be the president.” (more…)