Feinstein backs Afghan troop request

WASHINGTON, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- A request for more troops by U.S. commanders in Afghanistan is a "solid recommendation," the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee chairwoman says.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., signaled her support of a troop surge Sunday on ABC's "This Week," saying Gen. Stanley McChrystal, head of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, is a "crackerjack" commander "who gives the president very solid recommendations."

" I don't know how you put somebody in (like McChrystal) ... and not take those recommendations if you're not going to pull out," she said.

McChrystal reportedly is asking the White House for up to 40,000 additional soldiers in Afghanistan. Feinstein said that not to send them would be to endanger U.S. troops already there.

"If you don't want to take the recommendations," she said, "then put your people in such jeopardy, just like the base in Nuristan. We lost eight of our men. We didn't have the ability to defend them, and now the base is closing, and effectively we're retreating away from it."

However, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said in a statement Friday that leaving the outpost was part of a previously decided "repositioning" of troops, not a result of the casualties suffered.

Feinstein added that a decision on sending additional troops "has to be made sooner, rather than later."