Key senators doubt Afghan war progress; US envoy sees no ‘definitive turning point’

Leading senators voice doubts about Afghan war

WASHINGTON — Two of the Senate’s leading foreign policy experts say they have doubts about the course of the Afghanistan war.

Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He says it’s not clear that the administration has a solid strategy for prevailing in the nearly 9-year-old conflict.

Richard Lugar of Indiana is the committe’s ranking Republican. He’s decrying “a lack of clarity” about U.S. war goals.

They aired their complaints at a committee hearing Wednesday. At that hearing the administration’s special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, also acknowledged that the way ahead remains in doubt. Their comments are complicating the Obama administration’s effort to maintain support for the war.