{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.kaine.senate.gov/tim-in-the-news/us-not-abandoning-afghanistan-kaine-tells-regional-leaders", "U.S. not abandoning Afghanistan, Kaine tells regional leaders", "2013-12-07", "2013", "2013-12", "Democrat", "House", "VA", "Tim Kaine", "K000384", "www.kaine.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. not abandoning Afghanistan, Kaine tells regional leaders\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n                \r\n            \r\n            \r\n            \r\n                \r\n                    By:\u00a0\r\n                    Markus Schmidt\r\n                \r\n            \r\n            \r\n                \r\n                \r\n                \r\n            Saturday, December 7, 2013\r\n            \n\t\n\r\n            \r\n            Sen. Timothy M. Kaine, D-Va., assured political leaders and diplomats at a security summit in Bahrain Friday that the United States has no plans to abandon the Middle East and connecting regions, despite a significant reduction of forces in Iraq and President Barack Obama\u2019s vow to end combat operations in Afghanistan after 2014.\r\n\u201cWe are not withdrawing from the region and we are not rebalancing somewhere else,\u201d Kaine said in a phone interview from Manama, the capital and largest city of Bahrain.\r\nKaine said the U.S. is open to negotiate a continuation of an American military presence in Afghanistan beyond 2014.\r\n\u201cWe think that will be helpful to the country. We\u2019ve seen such tremendous gains and we want to continue to be there providing training and assisting. But the question is if Afghanistan wants us to do it or not, that\u2019s for them to decide,\u201d he said.\r\nThe Obama administration last month reiterated its position that there may be no residual force in Afghanistan after 2014 unless President Hamid Karzai signs a new security agreement with the U.S.\r\nAccording to a statement released by the administration in November, National Security Adviser Susan Rice told Karzai that, \u201cwithout a prompt signature, the U.S. would have no choice but to initiate planning for a post-2014 future in which there would be no U.S. or NATO troop presence in Afghanistan.\u201d\r\nKaine traveled to Bahrain Thursday to visit the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/U.S. Fifth Fleet. On Friday, he participated in a panel discussion at the 2013 Manama Dialogue, an annual security summit hosted by the Institute for International Strategic Studies.\r\nKaine said he planned to convey the message that the U.S. must re-evaluate its role in the region and expand its circle of strategic partners.\r\n\u201cThe attack of 9/11 gave us a very focused lens through which to view our foreign policy responsibilities \u2013 and that was fighting terrorism,\u201d Kaine said.\r\n\u201cWhile that topic retains a continuing and significant vitality for us, that is not a broad enough foreign policy for a nation as great as ours. As we are now out of Iraq and drawing down forces out of Afghanistan, it is a good time to have this discussion with our allies in the region,\u201d he said.\r\nAs member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and chairman of the Middle East Subcommittee, Kaine said he is \u201cwrestling with those questions every day.\u201d\r\nKaine said that the U.S. will not only to continue being a military power in the region, but use other means \u2013 such as \u201caggressive diplomacy\u201d and trade \u2013 to protect its interests.\r\n\u201cDiplomacy has been an under-exercised muscle in recent years,\u201d Kaine said. \u201cThe recent announcement of the significant diplomatic work being done with Iran to stop their nuclear program is an example of how importantly we view this region.\u201d\r\nThe U.S. has the strongest military in the world on display in the region and is doing \u201cgreat work right in this neighborhood\u201d to keep the sea lanes open in the Persian Gulf, \u201cso that commerce in this very important part of the world can continue,\u201d Kaine said.\r\n\u201cAnd we have great partners who appreciate what we do. We have demonstrated even in the last couple of years that we are willing to participate in significant military action in the Middle East, in North Africa and Libya, and we were willing to work together with NATO colleagues and the Arab League.\u201d\r\nKaine also said the U.S. played a major role in the \u201cdiplomatic breakthrough leading to the destruction of chemical weapons\u201d in Syria, adding to efforts following the announcement of Nov. 25 that the UN will convene talks in Geneva to look for a negotiated settlement of Syria\u2019s civil war.\r\n\u201cNo one can question the United States\u2019 role in being aggressive about diplomacy in this region, and I think there is a new age of more vigorous diplomacy,\u201d Kaine said.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.kaine.senate.gov/tim-in-the-news/us-not-abandoning-afghanistan-kaine-tells-regional-leaders"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9076520800590515, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}