Chaffetz: President Should Withdraw Troops from Afghanistan

11.30.2009 by Jeff Robinson

(KCPW News) Another politician is calling on the president to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan.  And it’s someone you might not expect to hear that from:  conservative Utah Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz.  Speaking at the Hinckley Institute of Politics today, Chaffetz said the U.S. military has already gotten rid of Al Qaeda’s base in Afghanistan.

“I guess if I had the opportunity to sit with Barack Obama, I would say our troops are the very best troops in the world.  What they’ve done has made a huge difference.  But Mr. President, it’s time to bring our troops home,” he told the audience.

Chaffetz said American troops aren’t trained in nation building or acting as a police force, and he fears the troops will have to do just that if they remain in Afghanistan.

But if President Barack Obama does decide to keep soldiers there, Chaffetz believes he should give the commanding officers everything they ask for.

“So I’m convinced that we can win any war that we decide to take upon ourselves, but we have got to define the mission, we have got to have rules of engagement that allow them to win, and first and foremost, we go big, or we go home,” said Chaffetz.

We’ll have a longer conversation with Congressman Chaffetz tomorrow on KCPW.  And tune in tomorrow night at 6 for a live address from President Obama about the future of the war in Afghanistan.