Lois Herr
The Democrat challenging U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts in the 2010 election says she opposes President Barack Obama's decision to send 30,000 more soldiers to Afghanistan.
Lois Herr, an Elizabethtown resident taking her third run at the 16th Congressional District seat, added, however: "I assume President Obama knows more than the rest of us and that he weighed his decision carefully. We must support him."
Herr's position illustrates the resistance Obama faces from within his own party and offers a contrast to Pitts' support — albeit lukewarm — for sending additional troops.
Pitts, an East Marlborough Republican who represents Lancaster County in the House, said Wednesday that the additional troops will "certainly aid our efforts in the region."
Herr, in a statement released Thursday, said she "would advocate a different perspective of our role" in Afghanistan from Obama's.
"Here's where I stand. The instability of the Afghanistan/Pakistan region provides an environment that allows terrorists to gain strength, strength they may use against us," Herr said. "Therefore, I agree there is a threat to our national security.
"However, deploying more troops in an effort to lessen that threat gives us no guarantee that we can in fact (a) stabilize the region or (b) find and neutralize terrorists. I believe a large U.S. military presence works against both those objectives," Herr said.
Herr said she doubts that the United States can unite a territory of insular tribes and that it has no partner in Afghanistan's corrupt government.
"The original drive into Afghanistan was to seek out Osama bin Laden and make sure the area was not a sanctuary for terrorists," Herr said. "He is still free, and there are now many other places which provide sanctuary for terrorists. What we could not accomplish in eight years of fighting will not be done with the sacrifice of more lives on the same ground."