Nelson calls for Afghanistan benchmarks

March 4, 2009 -- Today, Nebraska's Senator Ben Nelson sent Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates letters pushing for the creation of benchmarks for Afghanistan and outlining some of his ideas.

"In Afghanistan a new series of benchmarks would help demonstrate to the American people what we hope to accomplish and how we will achieve those goals in that country," said Senator Nelson. "We need to establish metrics for objective analysis of progress in Afghanistan."

In the letters, Nelson applauds the Administration's commitment to developing a strategic plan in Afghanistan that combines military and diplomatic action. He urges the creation of solid metrics in order to measure success in the region, stating that there is an obligation to the service members serving there to have a clear objective.

"When we were faced with questions about how we were doing in Iraq, it seemed to me there were people looking at the same set of facts, one group saying we're winning, another group saying we're losing," said Nelson. "We must learn from the difficult lessons learned from the war in Iraq."

Nelson pushed for and played a critical role in establishing the eighteen benchmarks for progress the Bush Administration used to measure Iraqi political, economic and military progress. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Nelson negotiated the inclusion of the benchmarks in the 2007 supplemental funding bill for the Iraq war.

"The sacrifices of our service members and of all Americans deserve a strategy worthy of their commitment, and one that we can evaluate objectively step by step as it unfolds," said Nelson.

The text of the letters follows:

Dear Secretary Clinton,

As we face a rapidly deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan and the region, I commend the Administration for shifting our focus to that country and working to develop a strategy to ensure the security of the nation. Unfortunately, a greater commitment in Afghanistan will require further sacrifice from our country and our men and women in uniform. As such, it is our responsibility to ensure that the American people are given a clear objective for the mission in Afghanistan, one which contemplates defense, diplomacy and development.

As the deployments of additional troops are ordered to Afghanistan, I urge you not to forget recent history and the difficult lessons learned from the war in Iraq. For too long, our standards to measure success there were vaguely defined.

For just that reason, you may remember I had pushed for the establishment of 18 benchmarks for America's mission in Iraq to measure political, economic and military progress. These benchmarks were included in the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, P.L. 11028. Likewise, I believe our mission in Afghanistan calls for a system which will allow us to objectively gauge our success both militarily and politically. The establishment of a clear objective in Afghanistan and the creation of a metric system to track the progress of all mission-critical elements will demonstrate to the American people what we hope to accomplish in Afghanistan and how we will achieve those goals.

I applaud the commitment to developing a strategic plan in Afghanistan, one which combines military action with a cohesive and strong diplomatic engagement. Certainly, no one believes the conflict in that region can be won through military action alone. As we move operations forward in Afghanistan, we must also secure the cooperation and contributions of other nations in the region. A unified diplomatic strategy will be critical to counter the ideology of al Qaeda.

Therefore, I respectfully urge the Administration to develop a series of benchmarks to objectively assess the military and political progress in Afghanistan. I believe we have an obligation to our servicemembers to ensure that their sacrifice is met not only with a clear objective, but also a means to measure success.

Thank you for your consideration of this request. I look forward to your response.

Dear Secretary Gates:

As we face a rapidly deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan and the region, I commend the Administration for shifting our focus to that country and working to develop a strategy to ensure the security of the nation. Unfortunately, a greater commitment in Afghanistan will require further sacrifice from our country and our men and women in uniform. As such, it is our responsibility to ensure that the American people are given a clear objective for the mission in Afghanistan, one which contemplates defense, diplomacy and development.

As the deployments of additional troops are ordered to Afghanistan, I urge you not to forget recent history and the difficult lessons learned from the war in Iraq. For too long, our standards to measure success there were vaguely defined.

For just that reason, I had pushed for the establishment of 18 benchmarks for America's mission in Iraq to measure political, economic and military progress. These benchmarks were included in the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, P.L. 11028. Likewise, I believe our mission in Afghanistan calls for a system which will allow us to objectively gauge our success both militarily and politically. The establishment of a clear objective in Afghanistan and the creation of a metric system to track the progress of all mission-critical elements will demonstrate to the American people what we hope to accomplish in Afghanistan and how we will achieve those goals.

I applaud the commitment to developing a strategic plan in Afghanistan, one which combines military action with a cohesive and strong diplomatic engagement; and I respectfully urge the Administration to develop a series of benchmarks to assess the military and political progress in Afghanistan. I believe we have an obligation to our servicemembers to ensure that their sacrifice is met with a clear objective and a means to measure success.

Thank you for your consideration of this request. I look forward to your response.