Legislation in Congress to establish Af-Pak Study Group

WAHINGTON (PAN Study Group (APSG), which will evaluate the American strategy for the region.

Congressman Frank Wolf had introduced a similar legislation in 2005 that created the Iraq Study Group (ISG).

The Af-Pak Study Group was needed to bring “fresh eyes” to US efforts in Afghanistan and bolster public confidence, he said in a statement on Wednesday.

Experts believe the Iraq Study Group report, issued in December 2006, played a pivotal role in helping the Bush administration re-focus the mission and implementing new strategies, such as the troop surge, which turned the tide of the war effort, said Wolf.

The bipartisan APSG would be similar in make-up to the ISG, with 10 members appointed by the president and leadership of the respective parties in the House and Senate and no more than five members representing the same political party.

Wolf said panel members should be “prominent US citizens, with national recognition and significant depth of experience in such professions as diplomacy, the armed services, governmental service, law, intelligence gathering and foreign affairs”.

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