Shea-Porter: Obama Afghanistan plan ‘irresponsible’
December 15, 2009 by Patrick
Filed under News & Politics
New Hampshire Democratic Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (NH-01) is changing her position on the Afghanistan war and is now a vocal opponent of President Barack Obama’s plan to send an additional 30,000 troops to that country.
During her 2006 and 2008 campaigns, Shea-Porter argued that Afghanistan, not Iraq, was the central front in the war on terror and that victory there was vital to American national security.
What’s more, Shea-Porter is casting aspersions at anyone who is not following her reversal.
“Anybody who would not change their position based on what has happened in Afghanistan would be irresponsible,” said Shea-Porter in Monday’s Portsmouth Herald.
NowHampshire.com hears that the quote has set off a firestorm of intraparty e-mails among Shea-Porter’s staff and Democratic Rep. (and Senate hopeful) Paul Hodes (NH-02), who has yet to decide where he stands on the Afghanistan escalation.
Any chance Carol still has her “Waffle Hat”?
There is, of course, more to the story than that juicy quote.
There’s a fuller quote now on the Portsmouth Herald web site than the one they originally printed. It indirectly responds to the flip-flop charge in what I think is a persuasive way:
“The world has changed dramatically since 2001 in fact Afghanistan has changed quite a bit since 2007 and 2008 and so as the world changes those of us who sit on the Armed Services Committee have to shift as well. And based on all the new evidence and changes in these countries we have to change our strategy and so anybody who will not change based on new information I think would be irresponsible,” Shea-Porter said.
According to James Pindall, she also said in that interview:
“I will tell you that there are many many people on both sides of the aisle who have different opinions and it’s not simply a Democratic or a Republican division at all”
Afghanistan is not a static place, things have changed dramatically in the last year. Anybody with any knowledge of what is going on there would change their opinion of what our strategy should be over there. That’s how you survive.
I have had a long conversation with a Captain in the Air Force who works with the Predator Drones, and we are wasting resources in Afghanistan. Sending more troops will only make the situation worse, especially with what is going on in Pakistan.
I have heard nothing but the citizens of New Hampshire agreeing with not sending more troops. Rep. Shea-Porter has made the a decision based on facts and I hope more in people Congress listen to her and not the President on this matter.