Kyl urges 'knockout punch' in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON, Nov. 29 (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., said Sunday the United States should take a "knockout punch" approach to Afghanistan rather than phased deployment.

Appearing on "Fox News Sunday," Kyl spoke out against a slow escalation of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, while also opposing the possibility of withdrawing all U.S. forces from the war-torn country.

"You need to put in everybody you can as quickly as you can and deliver a knockout punch to the enemy," Kyl said. "Secondly, talk of an exit strategy is exactly the wrong way to go."

Kyl's comments to "News Sunday" host Chris Wallace came in reference to U.S. President Barack Obama's plan to outline his strategy for Afghanistan on Tuesday.

U.S. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., used his appearance on the Fox program to urge the U.S. government to require Afghanistan and Pakistan to take a significant role in the fight in Afghanistan.

"If we just give them an open, you know, check and basically say, 'We're going to be there forever, don't worry about it,' well, then they're going to back off some of the hard things they have to do. So it's a fine balance," Bayh said.