Senator Sherrod Brown: 'We Need to Wrap Up in Afghanistan'
March 18, 2011 -- Until now, Congressional opposition to the war in Afghanistan has been largely limited to a small number of liberal Democrats in the House, but if Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) is correct, we are about to see a movement in the Senate in favor of rapidly withdrawing US troops.
"One of the most important things is staying on schedule starting in July on withdrawing troops from Afghanistan because, one, it's not working so well, second, because of the cost of that to American taxpayers," Brown said in an interview on the ABC News Subway Series with Jonathan Karl.
President Obama has said the U.S. would begin withdrawing some troops from Afghanistan in July, but he has not specified how many troops would come home. Brown insisted the withdrawal must be significant and ultimately lead to an end to US military involvement in Afghanistan.
"I think the withdrawal begins in earnest [in July]. A systematic withdrawal of troops out of Afghanistan," Brown said. "I think we've been there too long."
Support for the war has generally been strong in Congress since the initial invasion in 2001, but there has been some opposition among House Democrats. On Thursday, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) forced a vote on withdrawing U.S. troops. The measure failed overwhelmingly by a vote of 321 to 93, but attracted 28 more "yes" votes than the last time Kucinich forced a vote on withdrawal.
Senator Brown predicts says opposition is growing among Senate Democrats.
"I will be pushing it," Brown said. "And so will a lot of my colleagues."
An ABC News-Washington Post poll released this week showed public opposition to the war at its highest level yet. In the poll, 64 percent said they believe the war is no longer worth fighting, and 73 percent said they favored withdrawing US combat troops this summer.
