Begich suggests troops could be out of Afghanistan ahead of schedule

Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) suggested over the weekend that the withdrawal from Afghanistan could accelerate if the Afghan army's performance improves in coming months.

“The 2014 date is a solid date that the president selected, I agree with that,” Begich said during a weekend trip to visit Alaskan soldiers in the war-torn country. “The generals on the ground are working toward that."

But the freshman senator also marked progress on the ground and noted that the plan could be changed if the Afghan army is able to take over security responsibilities currently performed by American troops. 

 "If the Afghan army accelerates and does more, we’ll see what that does to the timetable," he said in response to a soldier's question. "But at the latest, 2014 is the date that we’re out of there with combat troops.”

Begich was on his second trip to the country and visited Kabul, the southwest command center in Helmand Province and the southern command center apparently experiencing inclement conditions including a snow storm and a dust storm, the Fairbanks, Alaska, News-Miner reported on Monday. 

“When you go to Afghanistan, there’s no hotel,” Begich told the News-Miner. “You get to experience the conditions of the troops there. It’s tough living.”