Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- When Congress finally got its chance to weigh in on the war in Afghanistan, lawmakers grudgingly accepted what they didn't like about the Obama administration's planned escalation and moved on.
Lawmakers had been complaining for three months that they were left out of the debate over the course of the faltering war. But when they got their crack this week at the generals and diplomats who manage President Obama's new strategy, they didn't put up much of a fight.
Congress is expected to reluctantly bankroll the emergency surge of 30,000 forces for the unpopular war. Both parties have problems with different parts of Obama's plan, but their skepticism has yet to approach real opposition.
Democrats balked this week at increasing civilian aid in a country known for weak leadership and widespread corruption, but it was mostly for show. Republicans, who largely support the war expansion, disagreed with his plans to begin bringing forces back home in 18 months. But they too mostly held fire behind gritted teeth.
"I have serious reservations" about more forces, Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., said Thursday, the last day of hearings that brought testimony from the top general in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, his boss, Gen. David Petraeus, and the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry.
Like other Democrats and some Republicans, Crowley pointed out the staggering costs of the war in a crummy economy. Some Democrats are already talking about a "war tax." But the White House and most lawmakers appeared unwilling to go that far.
Most likely, the federal government will simply increase its borrowing -- as it has in recent years in paying for the two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
During hearings that produced more grumbling than fireworks, some lawmakers warned that the Afghanistan war may not be winnable at any cost, and is being fought in the wrong country. Influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., wanted to know as much about American efforts to target al-Qaida in Pakistan as he did about the ground war in Afghanistan.
McChrystal's gag lifted after the long march to Obama's approval of most of the reinforcements he sought, the general smartly saluted the surge plan although it contains an expiration date he did not recommend.
He asked for time, patience and, by implication, money. He said he does not think he will need to ask for more troops.
The new forces can drive a wedge between Afghans and the resurgent Taliban insurgency, he said, the Afghan security forces and central government are getting better, and over time Afghans will reject the insurgents and embrace the U.S.-backed civilian government in Kabul.
