WASHINGTON, DC- Following the deadliest assault against U.S. forces in Afghanistan in over three years that killed nine U.S. troops in a battle at an outpost near the Pakistan border, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) released the following statement:
“I honor the ultimate sacrifice of the nine Americans who lost their lives on Sunday in a battle with Taliban forces in Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan. Unfortunately, such violence is on the rise in Afghanistan, especially as Taliban, Al Qaeda and other extremist forces cross the Afghan-Pakistani border with impunity and use tribal regions in Pakistan as a sanctuary to train and plan attacks.
“These setbacks highlight the failure of U.S. policy in Afghanistan. Almost seven years after the United States toppled the Taliban regime, Afghanistan remains a fragile and vulnerable state, with a growing Taliban insurgency sowing instability and undermining the faith of the Afghan people in the Karzai government. As I have argued recently, the Administration’s decision to prioritize Iraq over Afghanistan over the past five years on every conceivable front, from numbers of ground forces and Special Operations troops to deployments of unmanned aerial vehicles has directly contributed to a looming failure in Afghanistan. It’s time to get our priorities straight, and that means a renewed U.S. commitment to get both Afghanistan and Iraq right.”
Senator Casey visited Afghanistan and Pakistan in May where he met with U.S. troops and the leadership of both countries. A key topic in the meetings was the strengthened insurgency in Afghanistan and the cross-border sanctuaries provided in Pakistan for Taliban and Al Qaeda extremists. Senator Casey reflected on his trip and called for a renewed commitment to the region in an Op-Ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer. He wrote that any strategy for turning the tide in Afghanistan must account for what is happening across the border in Pakistan, we must work to strengthen Afghanistan’s security forces and that we must demonstrate to the Afghan people the concrete benefits of democracy and standing up to extremists who would return their nation to the twelfth century.
Earlier this month, Senator Casey outlined his views for a new U.S.-Pakistan relationship in a speech to the Asia Society in Washington, DC.
Senator Casey’s recommendations include: (1) A real counterinsurgency strategy to shut down the terrorist safe haven in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA); (2) taking a serious look at conditioning U.S. military assistance to Pakistan on the enforcement of pledges to stamp out cross-border flows of militants, weapons and other illicit trade; (3) stronger oversight to ensure the proper use of the billions of dollars we spend on assistance to Pakistan in its efforts to combat terrorism in the FATA; (4) a broadening and diversification of U.S. assistance to Pakistan beyond a pure military focus and (5) the need to reassure the Pakistani people that the United States is serious when it pledges a long-term commitment to Pakistan.
###
“I honor the ultimate sacrifice of the nine Americans who lost their lives on Sunday in a battle with Taliban forces in Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan. Unfortunately, such violence is on the rise in Afghanistan, especially as Taliban, Al Qaeda and other extremist forces cross the Afghan-Pakistani border with impunity and use tribal regions in Pakistan as a sanctuary to train and plan attacks.
“These setbacks highlight the failure of U.S. policy in Afghanistan. Almost seven years after the United States toppled the Taliban regime, Afghanistan remains a fragile and vulnerable state, with a growing Taliban insurgency sowing instability and undermining the faith of the Afghan people in the Karzai government. As I have argued recently, the Administration’s decision to prioritize Iraq over Afghanistan over the past five years on every conceivable front, from numbers of ground forces and Special Operations troops to deployments of unmanned aerial vehicles has directly contributed to a looming failure in Afghanistan. It’s time to get our priorities straight, and that means a renewed U.S. commitment to get both Afghanistan and Iraq right.”
Senator Casey visited Afghanistan and Pakistan in May where he met with U.S. troops and the leadership of both countries. A key topic in the meetings was the strengthened insurgency in Afghanistan and the cross-border sanctuaries provided in Pakistan for Taliban and Al Qaeda extremists. Senator Casey reflected on his trip and called for a renewed commitment to the region in an Op-Ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer. He wrote that any strategy for turning the tide in Afghanistan must account for what is happening across the border in Pakistan, we must work to strengthen Afghanistan’s security forces and that we must demonstrate to the Afghan people the concrete benefits of democracy and standing up to extremists who would return their nation to the twelfth century.
Earlier this month, Senator Casey outlined his views for a new U.S.-Pakistan relationship in a speech to the Asia Society in Washington, DC.
Senator Casey’s recommendations include: (1) A real counterinsurgency strategy to shut down the terrorist safe haven in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA); (2) taking a serious look at conditioning U.S. military assistance to Pakistan on the enforcement of pledges to stamp out cross-border flows of militants, weapons and other illicit trade; (3) stronger oversight to ensure the proper use of the billions of dollars we spend on assistance to Pakistan in its efforts to combat terrorism in the FATA; (4) a broadening and diversification of U.S. assistance to Pakistan beyond a pure military focus and (5) the need to reassure the Pakistani people that the United States is serious when it pledges a long-term commitment to Pakistan.
###
