Sens. Jim Webb (left) and Russ Feingold are joining forces to challenge the notion that the 'open-ended presence of U.S. military forces in Afghanistan' is in the national interest. Senate Dems demand more war input

Two Senate Democrats who have become leading voices on military issues sent a letter to President Barack Obama on Wednesday, demanding the Senate have more influence in bilateral agreements between the United States and its strategic partners.

With news from Afghanistan becoming bleaker, Sens. Jim Webb of Virginia and Russ Feingold of Wisconsin asked the president to respect the Senate's constitutional obligation to give "advice and consent" on treaties and declarations of war. They ask that any agreement with Afghanistan should "carry the weight of a treaty and be submitted to the Senate for its advice and consent in keeping with Constitutional requirements."


Feingold, long an opponent of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, joined forces with his Foreign Relations Committee colleague to challenge the notion that the "open-ended presence of U.S. military forces in Afghanistan serves our national interest." The senators cautioned Obama against repeating President George W. Bush's efforts to sidestep restrictions on the executive in declaring and funding wars.

"Agreements governing these operations have profound implications for our troops, the American people, and Congress' constitutional responsibility to declare war and make spending decisions about military operations. Any such agreements carry the weight of a treaty and should be submitted to the Senate for its advice and consent in keeping with constitutional requirements."

The Democrats' letter comes on the heels of a highly publicized information dump last weekend of more than 90,000 pages of documents detailing U.S. operations in Afghanistan that revealed Pakistan — a country receiving significant American aid to combat the Afghan Taliban — has been assisting the insurgency.

Feingold and Webb emphasized the "dangerous precedent" created when the United States and Iraq entered into a bilateral agreement without Senate review. That should not be repeated in Afghanistan, where America has been engaged militarily since 2001 in what has become the nation's longest war, they wrote.

Such evasion "goes against the intent of the framers of the Constitution," the senators' offices said in a statement.