American Morning
War tax proposed to pay for troop surge
After weeks of anticipation, President Obama is finally scheduled to unveil his plans for Afghanistan in a prime time speech tomorrow. He's expected to call for an additional 34,000 U.S. troops.
Some congressional Democrats are already voicing concern about the costs and are even proposing a surtax to fund future military operations in Afghanistan.
Connecticut Rep. John Larson co-authored the legislation for a war tax. He spoke to Kiran Chetry on American Morning Monday.
Related: Share the Sacrifice Act of 2010
What do Republicans expect from president's Afghan speech?
President Obama is expected to announce plans to send 34,000 more troops to Afghanistan.
We know some Democrats in Congress aren't happy about it, but what do Republicans want to hear from the president tomorrow night?
Rep. Tom Price just returned from Afghanistan with the Georgia delegation where they met with General Stanley McChrystal. He spoke with Kiran Chetry on American Morning Monday about what Republicans expect to hear from the president.
Sound Off: Afghanistan war tax?
Washington (CNN) - President Obama will announce the U.S. troop strategy for Afghanistan in a speech at 8 p.m. ET Tuesday at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Wednesday.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/10/26/troops.afghanistan.art.jpg caption="President Obama will announce his U.S. troop strategy for Afghanistan on Tuesday."]
In the speech, Obama will explain why the United States is in Afghanistan, its interests there and his decision-making process, Gibbs said, but "the president does not see this as an open-ended engagement.
A leading congressional Democrat, who is the chief proponent of a new tax that would fund future military operations in Afghanistan, suggested Sunday that continuing to fight the Afghan war under current conditions is “a fool’s errand” and, at the same time, said that his tax proposal would create a sense of shared sacrifice that has been missing in the last eight years.
Rep. David Obey, a Democrat from Wisconsin, is expressing serious reservations about the U.S. military effort in Afghanistan – just days before President Obama is expected to announce a substantial increase in U.S. troops in the country.
“The problem is that you can have the best policy in the world, but if you don't have the tools to implement it, it isn't worth a beanbag,” Obey said on CNN’s State of the Union, “And I don't think we have the tools in the Pakistani government and I don't think we have the tools in the Afghan government. And until we do, I think much of what we do is a fool's errand.” Read more
What do you think of the idea of a war surtax to fund military operations in Afghanistan? Sound off below.
Afghan war veterans debate merits of troop surge
President Obama is expected to make a decision on troop levels in Afghanistan in the coming weeks. His top commander in Afghanistan wants at least 40,000 more soldiers. Is that the right number? Should we be sending more troops at all?
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/11/02/afghan.troops.panel.art.jpg caption="Veterans Thomas Cotton and Jake Diliberto debate opposite sides of the troop surge divide."]
Two veterans of the war, Thomas Cotton and Jake Diliberto, will be lobbying Congress on opposite sides of the troop surge divide. They spoke to John Roberts on CNN’s “American Morning” Monday. Below is an edited transcript of that interview.
John Roberts: Thomas, let's start with you. What's the pitch that you're going to make in favor of General Stanley McChrystal's call for some 40,000 additional troops in Afghanistan?
Thomas Cotton: I'm going to tell Congress that we need every last one of those troops. That's based not only on my experience over the last year in Afghanistan, but also on General McChrystal's reputation and expertise. He has spent a career in the Army Special Operations community and he's looked at this situation carefully and knows that we can't win with a counterterrorism strategy only.
We need a full-spectrum counterinsurgency that can secure the south and the east while mentoring and training the Afghan national army. And 40,000 troops is the absolute minimum with which he can accomplish that mission.
Roberts: Jake, you heard Thomas' argument. What's your argument against the surge in troops in Afghanistan?
Jake Diliberto: Well, Tom's right – if you want to do a counterinsurgency campaign, you absolutely need 40,000 troops. But that's not enough. You're going to need another 100,000 troops on top of that. And all counterinsurgency experts will pretty much agree that another year is going to look like another 15 years. And so the idea that another counterinsurgency campaign in Afghanistan is in our best interest as Americans, I don't think, is the right answer.
14 Americans dead in copter collisions in Afghanistan
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) - Fourteen Americans died in a pair of helicopter crashes in Afghanistan on Monday, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/10/26/troops.afghanistan.art.jpg caption="Americans were killed Monday in two helicopter crashes over Afghanistan."]
In the deadlier crash, a helicopter went down in the country's west.
"Seven U.S. service members and three U.S. civilians were killed," an ISAF statement said. "Those injured include 14 Afghan service members, 11 U.S. service members and one U.S. civilian."
Enemy action was not suspected in the crash, the military said.
Four other U.S. service members were killed when two helicopters apparently crashed mid-air in southern Afghanistan. Two other NATO-led service members were injured.
"The incident is currently being investigated, but it is confirmed that hostile fire was not involved," ISAF said in an earlier news release.
Separately, ISAF said a joint international security force killed more than a dozen enemy fighters while searching a compound. The site was thought to harbor insurgents tied to narcotics trafficking in western Afghanistan.
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