Candidates differ on strategy to pursue in Afghanistan

As President Barack Obama mulls a decision on committing more troops to Afghanistan, he soon may hear from an interested party: the newly elected north country congressman or congresswoman with about 3,500 constituents already in the war zone.

Who ultimately will represent the 23rd Congressional District — and Fort Drum, one of the most-deployed military divisions — won't be decided until Nov. 3.

But Republican Dierdre K. Scozzafava and Douglas L. Hoffman, the Conservative Party's candidate, say the time for the president to act is now. William L. Owens, the Democrats' candidate, has adopted a more cautious approach.

"We've been waiting since March," said Ms. Scozzafava. "I really question what we're doing to ensure the safety of the men and women that are serving there. Some sort of resolution to the direction in Afghanistan should be placed on the front burner."

Both Mr. Hoffman and Ms. Scozzafava cited media reports that say Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, has asked for an additional 40,000 troops to fight the now eight-year-old war.

"I'm concerned about the fact that we have a general requesting more troops and administration not making decisions based on that recommendation," said Mr. Hoffman. "We can't have wavering. We can't have half-measures. We've got to be decisive in this. We can't be half-heartedly supporting our troops. It has to be a total commitment."

Ms. Scozzafava said it's the president's prerogative to change the strategy and make troop adjustments accordingly.

"But if you're going to ask them to continue the mission that they've been charged with, make sure they have the support that they need," the state assemblywoman said.

Their comments echo the sentiment of national GOP leaders, such as U.S. Sen. John S. McCain, R-Ariz., who told reporters last week that he worried about "half-measures" and suggested that Mr. Obama should dispatch thousands more to Afghanistan in accordance with the wishes of military leaders over there.

Mr. Owens agreed that Mr. Obama should seek input from his commanders, but said the ultimate decision was the president's to make. He did not offer an opinion on Gen. McChrystal's troop request.

"I feel very strongly about the fact that people should not make speculative pronouncements about issues that they are not fully informed about," Mr. Owens said. "To ask me to speculate on where I would wind up after having information provided by generals and other sources is not appropriate. Any thinking person is going to want to gather the information, assess it and make the decision. These are incredibly serious and complex issues."

Mr. Obama's decision on troop levels will be, in many respects, defined by his strategy for ending the conflict.

The president has ruled out some of the more extreme options, such as reducing the effort to a counter-terrorism operation by withdrawing some troops and stepping up special operations missions along the county's border with Pakistan. He's also vowed not to "double down" on troop levels. There are currently 68,000 troops already stationed there.

All the candidates agreed that, in general, the military's main priority should be to dedicate the manpower and equipment needed to be safe, succeed in the mission and protect our national security.

In Afghanistan, Ms. Scozzafava and Mr. Hoffman said, the first priority should be keeping the country free from al-Qaida influence and its second priority should be laying groundwork for the Afghan people to build their own industry, economy, laws and government.

Mr. Owens said he did not yet have access to information that could help him prioritize an Afghanistan strategy.

"When you have that information, then you can actually offer an opinion," the candidate said. "I want to be in a position to best represent the district. A way in which a person does that is gathering all the pertinent information so they can make a well-reasoned decision."

All three candidates said they would meet with Fort Drum officials soon after being elected to determine priorities and needs. There are about 4,500 soldiers there that are scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan in the next 18 months, and 3,500 Fort Drum soldiers in the country now who are scheduled to return in January.

The base also has two brigades — or about 7,000 soldiers — that are scheduled to deploy to Iraq by January, with about 6,400 soldiers from two separate brigades coming home from there within the next month.

Times staff writer Joanna Richards and the Associated Press contributed to this report.