Boehner Opposes Timetable for Afghanistan

May 5, 2009

House Minority Leader John A. Boehner said Tuesday he opposes Appropriations Committee Chairman David R. Obey ’s plan to set a one-year timetable for the military to show progress in Afghanistan to ensure continued funding.

He spoke a day after the Wisconsin Democrat unveiled plans for a $94.2 billion supplemental spending bill, the bulk of which would go for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition to Obey’s plan for a “fish-or-cut-bait” report in a year on military progress, the proposal sets benchmarks for determining the effectiveness of U.S. efforts.

“It’s probably not a very good idea,” the Ohio Republican said. “I suggested that to the president early on. For his sake, our sake and the troops’ sake, let’s not put ourselves in that straitjacket.

“It will be easy enough to determine how we’re doing once we get our troop levels up, once we take on new tasks in Afghanistan,” Boehner continued. “We’ll know based on the conditions on the ground how we’re doing.”

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=5&docID=cqmidday-000003110269

I think the first two in the headline sum it up.