The reaction against the drawdown plan for Iraq and Afghanistan announced by Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller has been a furious and bipartisan one. The singularity, however, has been the two chairman of the Armed Services Committees, Democrat Adam Smith (D) in the House and Republican James Inhofe (R) in the Senate. Both have their caveats, of course, that the drawdown must be executed carefully so as not to create security concerns for the U.S., and done in consultation with allies; but in the main, both chairmen were supportive.
“After speaking with the acting secretary this morning, I believe reducing our forward deployed footprint in Afghanistan down to 2,500 troops is the right policy decision,” Smith said in a statement. “At the same time, this reduction must be responsibly and carefully executed to ensure stability in the region.”
