Iowa Senator Joni Ernst. (file photo)

Iowa Senator Joni Ernst. (file photo)

Iowa Senator Joni Ernst says she supports President Barrack Obama’s revised timetable to keep more U.S. troops in Afghanistan. “The president and I don’t often agree on many things, but this is one that I am very grateful that the president has taken a good, hard look at the situation on the ground in Afghanistan,” Ernst says.

Ernst, a Republican from Red Oak, says the U.S. troops are still needed for support. “We need to ensure that they are able to carry the burden of protecting their homeland when we leave,” Ernst says. She says military leaders and the president of Afghanistan says they are working on becoming a self-supporting, self-sufficient country, but they are not quite there yet.

Ernst, who is also a member of the Iowa National Guard, says there could be problems if the U.S. support is pulled too soon. “What we want to avoid is creating a void or a vacuum in Afghanistan just as we did in Iraq,” Ernst says. “The country of Afghanistan is still vulnerable. We want to make sure that they can adequately cover down when our forces leave.” President Obama announced the U.S. would keep nearly 10-thousand troops in Afghanistan through 2015, almost double his original plan.