Nelson Introduces Bill Calling for Benchmarks on Transition
Today, Nebraska's Senator Ben Nelson and Secretary of Defense Nominee Leon Panetta agreed on the importance of setting benchmarks for marking progress toward the 2014 goal of the Afghan government leading and conducting all military operations in Afghanistan.
"If we intend to transfer security responsibility to the Afghan government by 2014, benchmarks will allow us to measure our progress and know whether we're on the right path or if we need to make corrections to meet the 2014 goal," Senator Nelson said.
"According to the President's plan, troops are supposed to start transitioning from Afghanistan next month. We often hear that whether these withdrawals take place will be decided by the conditions on the ground," Senator Nelson said during Panetta's confirmation hearing by the Senate Armed Services Committee, of which Nelson is a member.
"In that regard, I am introducing a measure today that will require benchmarks to evaluate the progress being made toward the transition of security responsibilities to the Government of Afghanistan," Nelson added during his questioning of Panetta. "I am encouraged by your support of this method of evaluating progress by some form of metrics so that we're not in a gray area about whether we're winning or we're losing or making progress. It gives us an opportunity to decide what level of progress we have made and what remains to be accomplished."
Nelson asked Panetta what measurements would help evaluate the progress of transitioning the lead responsibility for Afghanistan's security to Afghan officials by 2014.
Panetta outlined several and said it is crucial that General David Petraeus -- who has been nominated to succeed Panetta as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, American diplomatic leaders in the region, and the Administration participate in identifying which benchmarks would be important to indicate whether the transition is on the right path towards the 2014 goal.
Nelson agrees, and his bill would have the Administration establish the specific benchmarks on the transition of security responsibilities. Updates on these benchmarks would be included in the semi-annual reports to Congress, which are already produced.
Nelson has advocated and authored previous requirements for other benchmarks in Afghanistan and for the U.S. effort in Iraq. The new benchmarks would focus on the transition to Afghan forces leading security operations in that country.
"By establishing clear benchmarks for a strategic transition, we will have a better understanding of whether we can reduce troop levels in Afghanistan at a level faster than we had originally planned -- or if other adjustments must be made," Nelson said. "The American people deserve to know how well the transition is going toward meeting the goal of having Afghan National Security Forces leading and conducting all military and security operations in Afghanistan by the end of 2014."
Nelson added, "This is a time of major transition in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Libya and throughout the Mideast and North Africa. Each country's circumstances are different from the next, but the overarching reality is they involve national security interests of the United States."
Afghanistan's security is linked directly to the challenges in Pakistan. In order to gain a better understanding of those challenges, Nelson met with Husain Haqqani, Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States, on Tuesday.
Pakistan has been a partner in the fight against terrorism, but Nelson emphasized to the Ambassador that for U.S. aid to Pakistan to continue, the government of Pakistan must conduct a thorough investigation into who in the government or military may have given support to Osama bin Laden while he was in hiding in Pakistan.
During Panetta's confirmation hearing this morning, Nelson noted the complicated relations between the United States and Pakistan and asked Panetta if there is enough transparency in the relationship.
"We have to work at developing a relationship of trust with the Pakistanis and I don't know that we are totally there yet," Panetta responded. "There are some areas where we have good discussions and good communications, but there are a number of areas where, frankly, we don't have that level of trust or communication capability. I think we have to work at that. We've got to develop it because, as I have said, it is in the interest of both countries to have a trusting relationship because terrorism is an enemy not just for the United States, but it is an enemy for Pakistan."