America’s presence in Afghanistan is likely to continue for decades, given the lingering threat of terrorism and political instability, says a US congressman.
Adam Schiff, the California congressman, told the Aspen Security Forum on Saturday the US should be engaged in nation-building and combating terrorism.
A ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Schiff listed creating a stable government in Kabul and training the Afghan army as a challenging task.
“As a congressional consumer of innumerable and often upbeat briefings in the defense department over the years, I have become much more skeptical of the sustained ability in those two theaters,” he remarked.
The Aspen Times quoted the lawmaker as saying: “The threats that tend to concern me the most are the ones that have the capacity to fundamentally change our lives.”
He believed the greatest threat to US homeland continued to emanate from that part of the world. Schiff expected the US to have troops in Afghanistan well into the next decade.
But Juan Zarate, then deputy national security advisor for combating terrorism, said the US should not be a nation builder around the world. However, the speaker stressed the need to break up terrorist threats globally.
US may stay put in Afghanistan: Congressman
