[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 7 (Thursday, January 17, 2008)]
[House]
[Page H339]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    THE TRAGIC MISADVENTURE IN IRAQ

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Sestak) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SESTAK. Madam Speaker, in the wake of the 9/11 attacks against 
the United States, I was sent on the ground for a short period of time 
to Afghanistan. As a Navy admiral, I saw what needed to be 
accomplished. Eighteen months later, I returned on the ground and saw 
what had not been done because we tragically changed the focus of our 
attention and our resources to Iraq.
  Now, Afghanistan has become once again prey to terrorists and the 
Taliban have moved back into the southern ungoverned regions and the 
provinces.
  Because of this failure to have our legal or political or security 
structures there that we were trying to support be established, we were 
unable to have economic activity, the education take root so that we 
would be able to harness the efforts to have livelihoods established 
and an infrastructure in place, to overcome what General Eikenberry, 
our U.S. commander who was the NATO commander earlier last year said, 
``Where the road ends, the Taliban begin.''
  Secretary of Defense Gates has recently said that we will place 3,000 
troops into Afghanistan because of the possible spring offensive of the 
Taliban. That is too little and way too late.
  We have to be able to bring the infrastructure into those ungoverned 
regions so the Taliban once again cannot provide a safe haven for al 
Qaeda, that is presently in a safe haven because of this tragic 
misadventure in Iraq, within Pakistan.
  But more to my point today, I do not understand the criticism of a 
very good Secretary of Defense, Secretary Gates, that the United States 
wants to point at NATO and say you have not met your commitment in 
Afghanistan when, in fact, potentially a little known fact is that the 
United States itself has not met its own requirement for trainers and 
mentors of the Afghanistan National Army and the Afghanistan National 
Police. In fact, we are 63 percent short of our goal. That's 2,400 
troops.
  It all began in Afghanistan. And if we are to look back there 2 years 
from now and another tragedy would have been planned by the al Qaeda in 
another safe haven, whether Pakistan or Afghanistan, how can we say, as 
a senior commander said, ``In Iraq we do what we must; in Afghanistan 
we do what we can?''
  The right strategic template is as Winston Churchill said, 
``Sometimes it's not enough to do your best; sometimes you have to do 
what is required.''
  It is required to ensure that the education, the economic activity, 
the wells, the reconstruction can be accomplished, but you can only do 
that in a secure enough environment. That, again, is one of the 
tragedies of this misadventure of Iraq.

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