Gen. Joseph Dunford took exception to President Obama's timeline for withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan during his confirmation hearing Thursday to become new commandant of the Marine Corps.
Dunford affirmed Sen. John McCain's (R., Ariz.) concern about whether the announcement of a complete withdrawal by 2017 had affected Afghan troop morale.
"Senator, I think all of us in uniform, to include the Afghans, would have preferred for that to be a bit more ambiguous," he said.
Dunford also said that neither he nor any senior military leader had recommended that policy, to his knowledge.
"No one recommended zero," he said.
McCain added during his questioning the counterterrorism capabilities of the Afghans today were insufficient without leaving behind a residual force.
"There's no doubt that the Afghan forces today would not be capable of conducting the kind of operations we're conducting to put pressure on the network," Dunford said, adding he wouldn't predict they would have that ability any time in the near future.
