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Sen. Baldwin: US Should Focus On Fighting Terrorism In Afghanistan

Tammy Baldwin Says President Trump’s Remarks On War Lacked Specifics

By
Tammy Baldwin
Alex Brandon/AP Photo

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin says the war in Afghanistan should focus on terrorism, not “nation building.”

Baldwin, D-Wisconsin, told reporters Tuesday in Appleton that President Donald Trump’s remarks Monday night lacked specifics. On Monday, Trump gave a speech in which he said he will set no timeline for the withdrawal of American troops from the country. He also said he wouldn’t specify how many more U.S. troops would be deployed there.

Baldwin said she was unable to watch president Trump’s full remarks, but said any buildup of force in the region should be aimed at defeating terrorism.

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“Al Qaeda and ISIS. I really do believe that any strategy in Afghanistan has to focus very squarely on that,” Baldwin said.

Before she was elected a U.S. senator in 2013, Baldwin served in the House of Representatives.

In that role, after the terror attacks of 9/11, she voted to authorize military force in Afghanistan. But she said the situation changed in ensuing years, “as the war wore on I, in cases, saw ‘mission creep.’”

Baldwin indicated that “creep” was a move toward “nation building,” which was not the military authorization she voted for.

She said if Trump wants to change the mission, he should use the legislative process.

“It was the ‘War on Terror,’ essentially is how it’s been referred to in the many, many years since,” Baldwin said. “And if the president contemplates any different mission, I believe that he needs to go to Congress and ask for that authorization.”