October 26, 2009 Kerry speaks out against troop withdrawal in Afghanistan Play video

(NECN: Leslie Gaydos) - Senator John Kerry spoke out against a major US troop withdrawal in Afghanistan today.

"We all see the appeal of a limited counter terrorism mission and no doubt it is part of the end game. But I don't think we are there yet. A narrow mission that cedes half the country to the Taliban could lead to civil war and put Pakistan at risk."

CLICK HERE for Senator Kerry's full address.

But, Kerry, who was speaking to the council on foreign relations would not endorse a major military increase as advocated by the commanding U.S. general in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal.

"But I believe his current plan reaches too far too fast. We do not yet have the critical guarantees of governance and of development capacity. The other two legs of counter insurgency and I have serious concerns about the ability to produce effective afghan forces to partner with at the rate that we need to so that we can ensure that when our troops make heroic sacrifices the benefits to the afghans are clear and sustainable."

Kerry was in Afghanistan and Pakistan last week and helped persuade Afghan President Hamid Karzai to accept a presidential runoff vote.

The Senator says he defines success in the region as the ability to transfer power as quickly as possible...to achieve an effective civilian strategy...economic development..and

"The cornerstone of our strategy has to be to empower, transfer responsibility to the afghans..that's the whole ballgames, we need to ask ourselves at every turn..will this help...where the answer is no we probably shouldn't be doing it."

Under the right circumstances, if he was confident that U.S. military efforts can be sustained and built-on, Senator Kerry says he would support the president should he decide to send additional troops to the region.