WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) today issued the following statement after Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta announced on Wednesday that U.S. forces would transition from a combat role to a training role in mid-2013.

“I do not see any tactical or diplomatic sense in Secretary Panetta’s announcement,” said Wicker, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.  “Telling the enemy the date we are going to pull out troops gives the enemy an advantage on the ground and also eliminates any incentive for the Taliban to engage in substantive political negotiations with the Afghan government.  Our strategy in Afghanistan must be based solely on the conditions on the ground and not on the politics of the 2012 election.  Political expediency should never be an excuse for a rush to judgment on public policy – let alone our national security.”

Approximately 90,000 American troops are currently serving in Afghanistan.

# # #