What were four members of the House of Representatives doing in Germany on Jan. 8 undercutting U.S. foreign policy and issuing statements on Afghanistan? Isn't that the job of the State Department? Could there possibly be an ulterior (and possibly illegal) motive to their actions?
I came across this article titled "U.S. lawmakers' meeting sets back Obama's Afghan agenda".
The article tells about how Ambassador Marc Grossman was in Afghanistan in support of launching peace talks with the Taliban but, instead, found himself trying to convince a furious President Karzai and other Afghan officials that the U.S. Government had nothing to do with the Berlin meeting.
The U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan had planned to use his latest foray to the region to build Afghan government support for the nascent U.S. effort to kindle peace talks with the Taliban.
Instead, Ambassador Marc Grossman found himself last week putting out a fire ignited by a meeting between four U.S. Congress members and Afghan opposition leaders in Germany. At that meeting, the American lawmakers discussed constitutional reforms that would devolve power from Afghanistan's central government to the provinces — triggering suspicions that the United States was secretly plotting to partition Afghanistan along ethnic lines.
The U.S. Embassy said there was no such plan, and immediately denounced the reports. But the damage had been done.
The four Reps were Dana Rohrabacher, (R) California, Louie Gohmert, (R) Texas, Steve King, (R) Iowa and Loretta Sanchez, (D) California.
What the HELL were these people doing negotiating with members of the opposition to the official Afghan government?
Is it just me, or does this look like some members of the House are trying to work in opposition to the interests of the United States?