January 29, 2009
Posted: January 29th, 2009 05:36 PM ET
Sen. Lieberman ardently backed Sen. McCain for president but he spoke favorably about President Obama Thursday.
WASHINGTON (CNN) - Months after slamming then-presidential candidate Barack Obama's world view as "naive," Sen. Joe Lieberman reversed course in a critical foreign policy arena Thursday, praising the new administration's approach in Afghanistan. The former Democratic vice presidential nominee from Connecticut told an audience at the Brookings Institution he is optimistic the United States can turn the tide in the former Taliban stronghold in part because "President Obama has made very clear that this is a war he intends to win and he has moved swiftly to take command of it."
On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates outlined the administration's plans to deploy two additional brigades to Afghanistan by spring and a third by late summer, a total of about 15,000 more troops plus support staff. The U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David McKiernan, has requested 30,000 additional troops and support staff to help wrestle away gains made by the Taliban over the past year. While not opposing McKiernan's request, Gates Lieberman, widely viewed as having hawkish views in the war on terror, backed Obama's call to deploy additional forces to the region. He also said he "My advice to anyone who is hedging their bets in South Asia: the combination of Dick Holbrooke and (General) Dave Petraeus, led by Hillary Clinton and (Defense Secretary) Bob Gates, is not a team I would bet against," Lieberman said. He said that, in addition to a troop surge, U.S. policy in Afghanistan also needs a surge in the "strategic coherence of our war effort," as well as greater diplomatic outreach and cooperation from Afghans themselves. "The problem in Afghanistan today is not only that we have devoted too few resources, but that the resources we have devoted are being applied incoherently," he said. Lieberman, a self-styled "Independent Democrat" since losing his party's 2006 Senate primary in Connecticut, previously argued that Obama was little more than an "eloquent young man" with a thin resume. He enraged other Democrats during the campaign by endorsing the Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain. Filed under: Joe Lieberman President Obama |
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