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    June 23, 2011

Clinton Highlights Progress in Afghanistan

   VOA News
   Secretary of State Hillary Clinton talks with Senate Foreign Relations
   Committee Chairman Sen. John Kerry (L), and the committee's ranking
   Republican, Sen. Richard Lugar on Capitol Hill, June 23, 2011, prior to
   testifying on U.S. policies in Afghan
   Photo: AP
   Secretary of State Hillary Clinton talks with Senate Foreign Relations
   Committee Chairman Sen. John Kerry (L), and the committee's ranking
   Republican, Sen. Richard Lugar on Capitol Hill, June 23, 2011, prior to
   testifying on U.S. policies in Afghanistan and Pakistan

   U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says considerable progress has
   been made in Afghanistan through the increased presence of U.S.
   military, civilian and diplomatic personnel.
   Clinton testified before a Senate panel Thursday, one day after U.S.
   [1]President Barack Obama announced plans to withdraw 33,000 American
   troops from Afghanistan in about a year. Those troops were sent to
   Afghanistan as part of a surge announced in December 2009.
   Clinton told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the military
   surge has increased pressure on al-Qaida and Taliban insurgents, while
   the governments, economies and civil societies of Afghanistan and
   Pakistan have benefited from the presence of more U.S. civilian
   personnel. She said a diplomatic surge is supporting Afghan-led efforts
   to reach a political solution that will chart a more secure future.
   She said improving governance, creating economic opportunity and
   supporting civil society are "vital" to solidifying military gains and
   advancing political and diplomatic goals.
   The top Republican on the panel, Senator Richard Lugar, said troop
   withdrawals are necessary at this stage in Afghanistan, but that the
   U.S. policy is in need of more than pull outs on what he called a
   "political timetable."
   U.S. opinion polls indicate that the nearly decade-old Afghan war is
   increasingly unpopular with the American public.

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/english/news/asia/Obama-Orders-Cuts-in-Surge-Troops-from-Afghanistan-124391954.html

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