'Irresponsible' to Send Troops Without Election Results: Kerry

Says Afghan leadership needs to be in place

By Polly Davis Doig

Posted Oct 18, 2009 7:39 AM CDT

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'Irresponsible' to Send Troops Without Election Results: Kerry — Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., during the committee's hearing on the al-Qaeda threat in Pakistan and Afghanistan, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The US is in no position to send more troops to Afghanistan with that country's presidential election still up in the air, Sen. John Kerry told State of the Union in an interview yesterday. Speaking from Kabul ahead of an announcement on whether a runoff would be held, the Senate Foreign Relations chair dismissed further commitment as "irresponsible ... when we don't even have an election finished and know who the president is."

Kerry was quick to dismiss criticism of President Obama's deliberations on whether to send troops, saying, "I think this is being approached in an entirely responsible way." The interview airs this morning.

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