Lindsey Graham's worried about Afghanistan and an "unholy alliance between the right and the left"

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Washington (CNN) - A prominent Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee is praising President Barack Obama's approach to fighting terrorism in Pakistan.

However, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, is also worried that conservatives and liberals could join forces to undermine Obama's efforts in Afghanistan.

Obama has set July 2011 as the target date to begin to draw down the additional troops he's surged into Afghanistan. But, in an interview broadcast Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union," Graham predicted that conditions may not allow the troops to begin to come home by that date.

"enerally speaking, this time next summer, we're still going to be engaged in one hell of a fight," Graham said. "We're going to need every troop we have today, I think, still in Afghanistan next year."

According to Graham, it will be clear by the end of this year where things stand in Afghanistan.

"If, by December, we're not showing some progress, we're in trouble," he said. "And the question is: what is progress? Without some benchmarks and measurements, it's going to be hard to sell to the American people a continued involvement in Afghanistan."

Asked about the growing tide of sentiment against the Afghanistan war, particularly among Obama's base of supporters and some Democrats on Capitol Hill, Graham said he is worried about conservative and liberal forces joining together to frustrate Obama's efforts to stabilize Afghanistan.

"You know what I worry most about: an unholy alliance between the right and the left," Graham said. "That there are some Republicans who are not going to take a, you know, do-or-die attitude for Obama's war. There are some Republicans that want to make this Obama's war. . . There will be some Republicans saying you can't win because of the July 2011 withdrawal date, he's made it impossible for us to win, so why should we throw good money after bad?"

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/08/01/graham-fears-left-right-in-unholy-alliance-on-afghanistan/?fbid=CGrL317ZVUM

[saltpoint]

1. This is the sort of clueless drivel that comes out of

the mouth of someone who is trying to be relevant while knowing that in the arena of serious policy making he is almost irrelevant.

The comments from Graham here are an unimaginative rehash of stock responses. Almost to a word they're a compost heap of anything anyone's said about Iraq and Afghanistan for the last several years, and he doesn't even bother to put any new spin or a new ribbon on it.

"Ya didn't care for the chicken hawk casserole last night one bit, but too bad, I'm reheating the damn thing and serving it again."

- - -

on edit: Strictly speaking, Graham is not as egregious a chicken hawk in the Cheney model, but what's worse is that Graham is emotionally remote from the people war wounds and kills, and so his remarks are even more offensive.

[L0oniX]

3. +1

[tinymontgomery]

2. The growing tide

the tide has been there since 2003.

[spanone]

4. speechless

[kentuck]

5. And Lindsey is in that little "holy" closet in the center of America...

If he is in the minority, then he must be right?

[Hubert Flottz]

6. Somebody check Lindsey Graham's diaper, ASAP...

I think he's been wearing it too tight...

Paging GI Joe LIEberman, international man of misery. Front and center GI Joey.

Send Gomer Graham, GI joey, Admiral McSame, Are-null and Wrong Way George over to the Eastern Front to whip the wascally webels and "W-I-N".

Win what? What's the tax payer's share of the winnings?

[daleo]

7. An unholy alliance for peace

Like that unholy fellow Jesus, who said "blessed be the peace-makers".