GOP Lawmakers to Again Urge for More Troops in Afghanistan

November 10, 2009 3:35 PM

ABC News' Z. Byron Wolf reports: As President Obama assesses the four options for US policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan at a war council meeting Wednesday, Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee will send a letter to the White House warning him that further delay in sending more troops to Afghanistan will endanger the 68,000 troops already there.

“We agree with General McChrystal’s assessment of the security situation as 'deteriorating' and that our civilian and military leaders urgently need more resources, including more combat troops, to turn the tide toward success,” write the Republican lawmakers. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is the ranking Republican on that committee.

The Senators continue: “Success in Afghanistan will emerge, as it did in Iraq, when local leaders and citizens are more and more able to take responsibility for governing and securing their own sovereign country without substantial international assistance. This won’t be perfect or easy, but it will allow America’s fighting men and women to leave Afghanistan with honor, and it will enable Afghans to build a better, more peaceful future. That is our goal and we must stay in the fight until it is won. So we urge you to move now to fully support General McChrystal’s call for additional resources and troops.”