[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Page 22916]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            McCHRYSTAL PLAN

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the situation in Afghanistan is urgent, 
and we are told that action is necessary soon. But to better understand 
the need for action, the American people need to know all the details. 
And they should have those details explained to them by the man who 
knows them best.
  It is hard to deny the urgency of General McChrystal's assessment, 
parts of which have already been made public. And it is impossible to 
ignore his depiction of a grave and deteriorating situation in the same 
part of the world where a group of terrorists plotted the 9/11 attacks. 
General McChrystal's assessment of Afghanistan should worry all of us. 
As the President told a Turkish audience in April, ``The world has come 
too far to let this region backslide, and to let al Qaeda terrorists 
plot further attacks.''
  Earlier this year, President Obama expressed his confidence in 
General McChrystal by appointing him to his current post. Following the 
President's lead, the Senate expressed its confidence in General 
McChrystal by confirming him for his current mission without dissent. 
Now it is time for Congress to hear his detailed assessment of the 
mission that we confirmed him for, and to give him an opportunity to 
explain why he has concluded that additional troops are needed to avert 
failure.

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