Harman: 'I am Not One Who Is Enthusiastic' About Sending More U.S. Troops to Afghanistan

Posted by Matthew Duss, Think Progress at 6:00 AM on October 28, 2009.

Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) recently made news when she told an audience at the Brookings Institution that any further troop increases in Afghanistan “wouldn’t be well received” on Capitol Hill. During an interview with Harman earlier today, ThinkProgress asked her to elaborate on her views:

I have been focused on this issue, and I am not one who is enthusiastic about adding U.S. troops. I don’t think that is going to fix the problem. I think what’s going to fix the problem is a massive effort by us, when we have leverage, which is right now, to fix the corruption problem in the government. It’s the corruption, stupid. If we just let Karzai operate going forward with a system of cronies I think that is a guarantee that the population of Afghanistan won’t support its own government and will move increasingly to the Taliban. So, that’s against our interest. So, we ought to eliminate the corruption there and set up a system where Afghans want to fight for their own country over time.

Watch it:

Tagged as: afghanistan, harman

Matthew Duss is a Research Associate for The Progress Report and The Wonk Room at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.