WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Top U.S. administration officials sought to calm lawmakers' concerns about the exit plan in the Afghanistan strategy announced by President Barack Obama.
The strategy, announced Tuesday, calls for the military to deploy an additional 30,000 U.S. troops -- most of them in the first six months of next year -- and to start withdrawing them in July 2011.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appeared before two key congressional committees Wednesday to answer questions about the strategy, CNN reported.
Some Republicans said publicly disclosing the start of the withdrawal strengthened al-Qaida and the Taliban by letting them know when U.S. troops would begin leaving.
But Gates said the strategy would undergo "a thorough review" in December 2010 to determine whether plans to begin transferring security roles to the Afghans in July 2011 were proceeding as planned.
"If it appears that the strategy's not working, and that we are not going to be able to transition in 2011, then we will take a hard look at the strategy itself," Gates said. "The president always has the freedom to adjust his decisions."
Clinton said she does "not believe we have locked ourselves into leaving, but what we have done ... is to signal very clearly to all audiences that the United States is not interested in occupying Afghanistan."
Mullen said the Afghan people must ultimately win the war, and the U.S. troop surge is "about partnering and mentoring just as much, if not more, than it is about fighting."
Democrats expressed concern about whether the war can be won and about its costs.
