US President Barack Obama's new Afghan policy drew mixed reaction at the Capitol Hill with leading Congressmen welcoming it, while several members of his own party were reluctant to support it, if not directly oppose it.
Led by the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House of Representatives, several US lawmakers welcomed the new policy announced by Obama, but a senior Democrat Senator Arlen Specter opposed president's decision to send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan.
Another senior Democratic Senator from New Jersey, Robert Menendez, expressed his dissent by stating that he would have preferred exerting more pressure on Pakistan by the Obama Administration.
"My preference has been toward a targeted military operation that emphasises counter-terrorism and focuses on routing the Al Qaeda, rather than engaging in other flare-ups around Afghanistan. This strategy goes hand-in-hand with what I have insisted upon in our Pakistan policy, which is more pressure on the Pakistanis to go after the terrorists on their side of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border," Menendez said.
Welcoming the new policy Reid said after years of the previous administration's neglect, the Obama Administration has finally given this mission the attention and resources it demands.
"With clarity and conviction, the President presented not only a sound strategy for sending our troops to Afghanistan, but also a clear plan to begin to bring them home. President Obama made a convincing case that sending additional troops to Afghanistan to fight the Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups is critical to our national security," Reid said.
"By laying out a strategy that will begin to bring our mission to a close within the next 18 months, the president drew an essential distinction between his approach to the war and that of the previous administration," he said.
"Tonight, the president articulated a way out of this war with the mission of defeating the Al Qaeda and preventing terrorists from using Afghanistan and Pakistan as safe havens to again launch attacks against the United States and our allies," Pelosi said.
"The president has offered President Karzai a chance to prove that he is a reliable partner. The American people and the Congress will now have an opportunity to fully examine this strategy," she said.
Opposition to the new policy also came in immediately.
"I oppose sending 30,000 additional American troops to Afghanistan because I am not persuaded that it is indispensable in our fight against the Al Qaeda," Specter said.
"If it was, I would support an increase because we have to do whatever it takes to defeat the Al Qaeda since they're out to annihilate us. But if the Al Qaeda can operate out of Yemen or Somalia, why fight in Afghanistan where no one has succeeded?" the Senator said. Specter disagreed with Obama's two key assumptions that the US can transfer responsibility to Afghanistan after 18 months and that the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies will make a significant contribution.
"It is unrealistic to expect the United States to be out in 18 months, so there is really no exit strategy. This venture is not worth so many American lives or the billions it will add to our deficit," he said.
Senior Republican Senator John Cornyn said it is a big mistake by the Obama Administration to set a date of withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.
"Setting a draw down date before this surge has even begun is a mistake, and it sends a mixed message to both our friends and our enemies regarding our long-term commitment to success," Cornyn said.
"Success remains within reach, but the president must deploy these forces expeditiously. He must make winning the War on Terror his top priority, instead of meeting arbitrary political deadlines for withdrawal," he said.
