Lindsey Graham: Permanent U.S. Presence In Afghanistan Would Be 'Enormously Beneficial'

[unhappycamper]

Lindsey Graham: Permanent U.S. Presence In Afghanistan Would Be 'Enormously Beneficial'
Sam Stein
[e-mail] | HuffPost Reporting
First Posted: 01- 2-11 11:33 AM | Updated: 01- 2-11 11:59 AM

NEW HAVEN -- There was, with really no notable exception, an absence of discussion of the Afghanistan war during the course of the 2010 campaign. But that may have been more a product of the electoral landscape (congressional races often don't lend themselves to foreign policy debates) and strategic timelines (the start date for withdrawal begins in July 2011) than anything else.

And, indeed, during an interview Sunday morning, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) provided some indication that Republicans would push U.S. permanency in Afghanistan in the years ahead, insisting that it would be "enormously beneficial" to show that type of force "in perpetuity."

"I think it would be enormously beneficial to the region as well as Afghanistan," Graham said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "We have had air bases all over the world and a couple of air bases in Afghanistan would allow the Afghan security forces an edge against the Taliban in perpetuity. It would be a signal to Pakistan that the Taliban are never going to come back. In Afghanistan they could change their behavior. It would be a signal to the whole region that Afghanistan is going to be a different place.

"And if the Afghan people want this relationship, they are going to have to earn it. But I hope that they will seek a relationship with the United States so we can have an enduring relationship, economic and militarily and politically, and a couple of air bases in Afghanistan will give us an edge military, give the Afghan security forces an edge militarily to ensure that the country never goes back into the hands of the Taliban, which would be a stabilizing event throughout the whole region."

The word choice here by Graham may be a bit more dramatic than the policy prescription. The United States, as he noted, does have bases in Germany and Japan more than half-a-century after World War II ended.



unhappycamper comment:

Eee Haw

[Rhiannon12866]

1. Does no one remember why President Carter boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics?!

This is just insane...:banghead:

[xchrom]

2. all i can think of is the money it would take for 'perpetuity'. nt

[newfie11]

3. send lindsey graham a one way ticket and leave his sorry ass there.

[ladjf]

4. Graham's remarks over the past few weeks seem to be getting

increasingly irrational. nt