Daschle calls for increased Afghan support

WASHINGTON, June 22 (UPI) -- The United States should focus its anti-terrorism efforts on Afghanistan rather than Iraq, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle said Sunday.

While appearing on "Fox News Sunday," the former Democratic senator from South Dakota said Afghanistan was the site of the greatest terror threat to the United States and therefore the military should focus there.

"We've got to be in Afghanistan more effectively. We've got to be sure that we're dealing with the war on terror where it really has generated the greatest degree of threat to the United States. That isn't Iraq. That is Afghanistan and it's worldwide," Daschle said.

Meanwhile, former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge said on the Fox News program that presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's plan to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq would be ill-advised.

"Ultimately, you need GIs and Marines. You need them to bring a level of stability so that the administration in Iraq can work," the Republican politician said. "And it's beginning to demonstrate in a very meaningful way that that strategy is paying dividends."

"But, clearly, the withdrawal that Senator Obama's talked about -- 'As soon as I'm elected, I'm going to start bringing troops home' -- would not be in the long-term best interest of the Iraqi people, the region or the United States of America."