President Obama will face dissent in Congress on his call for a second round of supplemental funding for a troop increase in Afghanistan from both the Left and the Right.
Some Republicans in the House now say they will vote against more war funding, and lawmakers in both parties expect some GOP opposition in the Senate.
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“Many members of my caucus and, I believe, members of the Republican caucus, perhaps from different philosophical perspectives, will come to the same conclusion, that this is a mistake to move in the direction of this huge troop buildup,” Sen Russ Feingold, D-Wis., said.
So far two Republicans in the House have announced their opposition to a troop increase.
“Here we have been in Afghanistan and Iraq seven and eight years, and now we’re going to ask our military to continue to go there,” Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., part of the GOP anti-war faction in the House, said. “We’ve got to have an end point to this strategy or there is no strategy.”
Officially, Republicans are behind Obama’s decision to send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan by the end of May 2010.
Dan Senor, a foreign policy expert for the Republican National Committee said he is “quite encouraged by the president’s decision,” particularly if the troops get there by May.
But if enough GOP opponents team with Democrats who are opposed to a troop increase, this unlikely alliance could block funding in either the House or the Senate.
“If the decision were left solely to me, I would bring our troops home,” said Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah.
Chaffetz and others want the military to fight terrorism in Afghanistan with smaller tactical units rather than a second surge.
“A successful war on terror does not necessarily mean 100,000 troops in a particular country,” Chaffetz said. “I fear the president is gravitating toward nation building.”
The House needs 218 votes to pass and will likely get most of the 177 Republicans and more than half of the 258 Democrats.
Chaffetz said “there are a lot of people on both sides of the aisle who are very wary,” of a troop increase.
The Senate could have an even harder time passing additional war funds. Many Democrats on Tuesday said they are undecided about a troop increase, particularly if there is no way to pay for it, and it would take just 41 votes to block a war funding bill.
Sen. Jeff Sessions acknowledged the troop increase will be a harder sell for Republicans than the surge in Iraq.
“Do we create more terrorism by being there?” Sessions said. “These are real questions. We have to be more moderate in our goals for Afghanistan.”
“It’s shameful we can send men and women into harm’s way and not have the courage to come up with a way to pay for it,” said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D.
“I’m not at all certain we can afford this many-year commitment,” Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said.
