WASHINGTON -- Sen. John Kerry introduced his “Afghanistan Sense of the Senate Resolution” today, heeding the calls of the commanders on the ground in Afghanistan who are urgently asking for more troops to fend off an impending Taliban offensive. The bill also seeks to prevent any troops stationed in Afghanistan from being siphoned from Taliban strongholds to support the White House escalation of the war in Iraq. Kerry argued that sending more troops into the middle of civil war in Iraq against the advice of our military commanders, and at the expense of a fortification in Afghanistan, would be a grave mistake.

“For too long, this White House has ignored the growing resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan,” Kerry said. “Our own generals tell us that the Taliban is freshly emboldened, the instability and corruption are still major problems, that opium production continues to increase, and that our forces on the ground in Afghanistan are stretched beyond all reasonable limits. Rather than looking at whether he can move troops from Afghanistan to bolster a misguided effort in Iraq, he should be surging troops and economic assistance into Afghanistan where the original 9-11 terrorists masterminded their attacks on U.S. soil.”

In the resolution, Kerry notes that Osama bin Laden is believed to be hiding in the mountains on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, and that only by partnering with the government in Afghanistan can the U.S. make progress in the ongoing effort to eliminate the Taliban. Finally, the resolution says that the U.S. should strengthen efforts to establish peace and stability in Afghanistan.

The non-binding resolution is intended to restore attention on Afghanistan, which Kerry believes has long been neglected by the President.

Below is the text of Kerry’s Afghanistan Sense of the Senate Resolution:

Calling for the strengthening of the efforts of the United States to defeat the Taliban and terrorist networks in Afghanistan: 

Whereas, global terrorist networks, including the al Qaeda organization that attacked the United States on September 11, 2001, continue to threaten the security of the United States and are recruiting new members and developing the capability and plans to attack the United States and its allies throughout the world;

Whereas, a democratic, stable, and prosperous Afghanistan is a vital security interest of the United States;

Whereas, stability in Afghanistan is being threatened by antigovernment and Taliban forces that seek to disrupt political and economic developments throughout the country;

Whereas Osama Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leaders of al Qaeda, are still at large and are reportedly hiding somewhere in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region;

Whereas, in September 2006, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said that “The same enemies that blew up themselves in...the twin towers in America are still around”;

Whereas, according to U.S. military intelligence officials, Taliban attacks on U.S., allied and Afghan forces increased from 1,558 in 2005 to 4,542 in 2006; suicide bomb attacks in Afghanistan increased from 27 in 2005 to 139 in 2006; roadside bomb attacks more than doubled from 783 in 2005 to 1,677 in 2006; and cross border attacks from Pakistan into Afghanistan have increased by 300% since September of 2006.

Whereas, on September 2, 2006, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported that in 2006 opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan increased 59% over 2005 levels and reached a record high;

Whereas, the Administration’s current request for United States economic assistance to Afghanistan for FY 2007 is approximately 33% of the amount appropriated for FY 2006;

Whereas, only 50% of the money pledged by the international community for Afghanistan between 2002 and 2005 has actually been delivered;

Whereas, on September 12, 2006, the United States Secretary of State said "an Afghanistan that does not complete its democratic evolution and become a stable, terror-fighting state is going to come back to haunt us…It will come back to haunt our successors and their successors…If we should have learned anything, it is if you allow that kind of vacuum, if you allow a failed state in that strategic location, you're going to pay for it."

Whereas, the bipartisan Iraq Study Group Report concluded that: “If the Taliban were to control more of Afghanistan, it could provide al Qaeda with the political space to conduct terrorist operations. This development would destabilize the region and have national security implications for the United States and other countries around the world”;

Whereas, the Iraq Study Group Report recommended that the President provide additional political, economic, and military support for Afghanistan, including resources that might become available as combat forces are redeployed from Iraq;

Whereas, the Iraq Study Group specifically recommended that the United States meet the request of General James Jones, then United States NATO commander, for more troops to combat the resurgence of al Qaeda and Taliban forces in Afghanistan;

Whereas, on October 8, 2006, General David Richards, NATO's top commander in Afghanistan, warned that a majority of Afghans would likely switch their allegiance to resurgent Taliban militants if their lives show no visible improvements in the next six months;

Whereas, on January 6, 2007, Army Brigadier General Anthony J. Tata stated that the shortage of troops in Afghanistan could create a "strategic high risk, a strategic threat" to the United States and "an operational threat" to the elected Afghan government of Hamid Karzai;

Whereas, on January 15, 2007, United States Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates stated that there were “indications that the Taliban were planning a large spring offensive” against U.S. troops and NATO forces;

Whereas, on January 16, 2007, Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry, the senior American commander in Afghanistan, asked to extend the deployment of an American battalion in Afghanistan that was scheduled to be redeployed to Iraq;

Whereas, on January 17, 2007, General Richards stated that unmet pledges of troops and equipment from NATO countries have left him 10 to 15 percent short of the forces he requires, saying: “Clearly, there is a need to fulfill those commitments.”

Whereas, on January 17, 2007, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates stated that United States military commanders in Afghanistan have requested additional United States troops for Afghanistan, and stated that he was “sympathetic” to this request.

Whereas, the United States currently has approximately 21,000 troops in Afghanistan, approximately 1/7 of the number of United States troops currently deployed to Iraq;

Whereas, the President of the United States has announced plans to send approximately 21,500 additional United States troops to Iraq;

Whereas if the United States does not strengthen efforts to defeat the Taliban and to create long-term stability in Afghanistan, Afghanistan will become what it was before the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a haven for those who seek to harm the United States, and a source of instability that threatens the security of the United States: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, that it is the sense of the Senate that—

(1) The United States must strengthen its commitment to establishing long-term stability and peace in Afghanistan;

(2)  The President should not reduce the total number of United States troops serving in Afghanistan in order to increase the total number of United States troops serving in Iraq;

(3) The United States, in partnership with the International Security Assistance Force and the Government of Afghanistan, should immediately increase its efforts to eradicate the Taliban, terrorist organizations and criminal networks currently operating in Afghanistan, including by increasing United States military personnel as requested by United States military commanders in Afghanistan;   

(4) The United States, in support of the Government of Afghanistan, should significantly increase the amount of economic assistance available for reconstruction, social and economic development, counter-narcotics efforts, and democracy promotion activities in Afghanistan.

(5) The United States should work aggressively to encourage members of the international community to deliver on the financial pledges they have made to support development and reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan. 

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