Toomey: Obama, Wrong on Economy, Right on Afghanistan

Republican Senate candidate Pat Toomey is criticizing President Barack Obama's economic policies, but says the president is making the right call by sending 30-thousand more troops to Afghanistan.
Pat Toomey lives in Allentown, and says he disagrees with the economic plans President Obama touted during a town hall meeting there.
Toomey says the government is making the recession worse with what he calls out of control spending, and he wants to see the federal budget capped.
Toomey doesn't think Obama's doing everything wrong, though-he supports the decision to increase the US military presence in Afghanistan.

"I do think that we can win in Afghanistan. I think it's vitally important that we not allow the Taliban to reestablish Afghanistan as a sanctuary for terrorist groups like al Qaeda. So I support the president's decision."


Democratic incumbent Arlen Specter opposes the increase. Toomey calls the stance "unfortunate," arguing Specter's making a political calculation to appeal to liberal voters.

Protest of President's Plan for Afghanistan

Peace groups plan to protest President Obama’s plans to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan and to demand an end to the war. several peace groups will hold an emergency protest demanding an end to the war.
Pete Shell of the Thomas Merton Center Antiwar Committee says the longer the military stays there, the more resistance will grow. "The war is unpopular, it’s unwinnable, and it’s wrong.”
The president says the troops are needed because the situation has deteriorated and the additional personnel will help train the Afghan military so they can take over the job of security sooner. Mr. Obama says troops would start leaving in July 2011.

The protests are part of a nationwide day of actions sponsored by a wide variety of antiwar and peace groups, including the National Assembly to End the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and Occupations, United For Peace and Justice, Code Pink, Iraq Veterans Against the War, ANSWER, and others.

The Pittsburgh protest will take place this evening at 6 o'clock in Schenley Plaza in the Oakland part of Pittsburgh. Legal observers from the ACLU are expected to be present in order to help ensure that protesters’ constitutional rights are respected. That's the scene of more than 100 arrests during the G20 Summit in September.

PA Delegation on President's Afghanistan Plan

Members of Pennsylvania's Congressional delegation are weighing in on President Barack Obama's new war strategy for Afghanistan. Senator Arlen Specter says he opposes the president's plan to send an additional 30 thousand troops there starting in January. Specter says Al Qaeda can operate out of other countries like Yemen and Somalia, so it doesn't make sense to center the fight in Afghanistan, where no one has succeeded in the past.
Senator Bob Casey, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee, travelled to Afghanistan in August. He issued a statement saying the country deserves a full accounting of the challenges posed in Afghanistan. Casey's committee plans to question Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Democratic Congressman Jason Altmire of Pittsburgh's North Hills says he fully supports the Administration’s decision to provide commanders in Afghanistan with additional troops. "Make no mistake, the war in Afghanistan is still the central front of the war on terror. In order to keep our country safe, we must take the actions necessary to stabilize Afghanistan and to ensure that it will never again be a safe haven for Al-Qaeda or other terrorist groups.”
Congressman Joe Sestak, who is challenging Specter in the May Democratic Primary, says
the president has presented a plan to allow the nation to complete a mission that is as indispensable today as it was 8 years ago....
"It is a difficult decision. After years of war and with economic challenges at home, the American people are justified in their concern about an increased commitment in Afghanistan. But the President has made the right call. If we leave Al Qaeda behind in a safe haven and are struck again, what can we ever say to those we swore to protect?"

Sestak added that the clear emphasis of the overall goal must remain focused on eliminating the safe haven in Pakistan. And second, we should measure our progress not by a fixed timetable, but by benchmarks of achieving America's security.

Specter, Sestak Disagree Over More Troops in Afghanistan

Pennsylvania’s two leading Democratic Senate candidates have different opinions on whether more troops are needed in Afghanistan.
Senator Arlen Specter says he opposes sending 30-thousand additional troops to Afghanistan, unless their mission is “indispensible in [the] fight against al Qaeda.”
Challenger Joe Sestak supports the increase, as long as it’s accompanied by clear goals and benchmarks, but both men agree that US forces should be focused on disrupting terror networks, rather than rebuilding the country.
Specter says American troops shouldn’t spend resources propping up Hamid Karzai’s government, which he calls unreliable.

"We don’t want to fight a war against the Taliban. That’s not in the US national interest. Al Qaeda, yes, but if al Qaeda can organize elsewhere, then I’m opposed to sending more troops to Afghanistan.

Sestak says he’s also lost faith in the Karzai government, and wants to see US officials build more partnerships with regional tribal leaders. He says he’s opposed to an Afghanistan mission focused on rebuilding the country and its government.

"It needs to be primarily and near-exclusively on al Qaeda, but with a sub-goal of leaving behind conditions that leave a probability that al Qaeda will not come back."

Specter agrees, saying he doesn’t support “a war on the Taliban,” instead of al Qaeda terrorists. Both men are calling for an increased focus on Pakistan.
President Obama will announce his new Afghanistan strategy tonight at 8. WDUQ-FM will broadcast the president's address.