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WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks gave voice late last week to his break with President Barack Obama over the war in Afghanistan.
The 6th District congressman, whose constituents include residents of Clallam and Jefferson counties, voted May 26 for a narrowly defeated amendment that demanded Obama devise plans this summer to speed up the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan and seek a negotiated settlement with “all interested parties,” including the Taliban.
But he did not speak during the debate and kept a low profile after the vote.
That changed Thursday, when Dicks warned Obama of congressional “war fatigue” in light of budget pressures in an interview with Politico, a journalism organization that distributes political news content over the Internet.
An early bedrock supporter of Obama’s Afghanistan and Iraq war policies, Dicks said prospects for staying in Afghanistan into 2014 also will be difficult given the unpredictable performance of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistan.
Dicks is the top House Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee and the committee’s defense panel that oversees the Pentagon budget.
Dicks’ subcommittee began considering 2012 war funding for Afghanistan on Wednesday.
His spokesman, George Behan, did not return repeated Peninsula Daily News requests Friday for an interview with Dicks.
“Between Karzai and Pakistan, I’m looking for a friend in the neighborhood, and I’m having a hard time finding one,” Dicks told Politico.
“I think the military operation has been more successful recently, but all of a sudden — when you are faced with these incredible cuts we’re making in the domestic programs and the social safety net of this country — you know, to do nation building in Afghanistan? I’m having a hard time.
“I think it’s like $113 billion on Afghanistan, and there’s Pakistan’s situation, where we know on the border people are coming across into Afghanistan,” he said.
“It’s a serious problem. I just think that there’s a war fatigue setting in up here, and I think the president is going to have to take that into account.”
“We need to start seeing if we can do this a little faster,” Dicks added.
“I think the American people would overwhelmingly like to see this brought to a conclusion sooner than 2014.”
Dicks’ seniority in Congress — he is serving his 18th term — combined with his standing on defense and appropriations issues gave his words weight, Democratic Rep. George Miller of California said.
“It’s a big indicator,” Miller said.
“People know him, respect him, know this is his subject area. Clearly, we are at a turning point.”
Miller added Dicks is “an evidence-driven member”
of Congress.
New Jersey Democratic Rep. Rob Andrews said Dicks’ political views can’t be categorized.
“He doesn’t fall in an ideological box, and therefore, where he goes will have significant gravity,” Andrews told Politico.
Dicks did not oppose the “surge” in Iraq, like many House Democrats, and in 2009 supported Obama’s expansion of troop levels in Afghanistan.
“I told everyone who would listen, ‘Don’t bet against the surge,’ because I felt, having gone over there, that this surge would work and we ought to be very careful,” Dicks said in an interview in February 2010.
“As it turned out, that was correct. I’ve made a lot of other decisions that haven’t always been correct. On that one, I feel good . . . and I feel the situation in Afghanistan also has a chance to turn around.”
The last week of May, Dicks sided with anti-war forces in backing the amendment on an accelerated withdrawal from that country.
The amendment narrowly failed, 215-204, but 26 Republicans joined the effort.
Only eight Democrats voted against it.
“I think there are a lot of people changing their minds, and if this thing had had a little more time, it may have well passed,” Dicks told Politico.
“The mentality is settling in.”
Indeed, at the White House on Thursday, the same vote on Afghanistan was raised by Democrats with the president. Massachusetts Rep. Jim McGovern, the chief sponsor, made the point that 97 percent of Democrats had backed his language, and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi also spoke to the issue.
“I don’t think they’re going to be dismissive,” Andrews said, describing the exchanges.
“[Pelosi] mentioned it today pretty emphatically.
“The 97 percent number is pretty impressive, and people like Norm Dicks and people who are pro-defense-type Democrats, [that’s] pretty impressive.”
