[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 136 (Thursday, September 24, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H9915-H9916]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              AFGHANISTAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Quigley) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. QUIGLEY. Mr. Speaker, the American people should have serious 
questions when it comes to the war in Afghanistan, and I believe we 
need answers before we ever talk about sending additional young men and 
women into that conflict.
  General Stanley McChrystal told us this week that he needs more 
troops in Afghanistan or else our mission there will likely result in 
failure, but there seems to be some confusion over what that mission 
is.
  Question one: Are we building nations or hunting terrorists? The 
administration has stated that its primary goal is preventing al Qaeda 
from operating, but General McChrystal has stated that his mission is 
to protect the Afghan civilians and establish good governance. These 
objects are related, but they are not the same. As the President has 
stated, we must first define our strategy, and then we will determine 
how to resource it.
  Question two: How many troops will we need? The figure being 
discussed is an additional 40,000 to 45,000 more troops on top of the 
68,000 already in Afghanistan. But experts such as General Charles 
Krulak put the figure for a successful counterinsurgency at several 
hundred thousand. The greater our footprint over there, the more it 
looks like an occupation to a people who have violently resisted 
occupations for centuries.
  Question three: Are we stretching our Army to its breaking point? 
Many of our troops are on their third or fourth tour. That has an 
impact on families and communities. Many of our National Guard units 
have left equipment over there and faced recruitment problems over 
here.

[[Page H9916]]

  Question four: How long will these troops be there? It's not enough 
to decide we can manage it for another year or two with greater 
deployment. Without a specific end date, a decision to increase 
deployment today means more troops next year and the year after that.
  Question five: Where will we get enough troops with the experience 
needed in Afghanistan? The military needs more IED experts to diffuse 
roadside bombs; however, it takes 11 months to train a bomb specialist, 
and these specialists are already in short supply.
  We also need translators, medical officers, and other specialists 
that could require a great deal of training, yet we continue to kick 
out such specialists because of the immoral and extraordinarily 
shortsighted ``don't ask, don't tell'' policy.
  Question six: How many NATO forces can we count on, and how will we 
maintain an effective command structure? We are told that this cannot 
be a go-it-alone mission, but resources in other NATO countries are 
limited, and incidents such as the German airstrike show the dangers of 
coalition warfare.
  Question seven: Can we count on the Government of Pakistan to remain 
with us in this fight? Pakistan has a great deal of trouble controlling 
the tribal areas, and our continued presence is causing more unrest in 
the cities.
  Question eight: Is it worth American lives to prop up the Government 
of Afghanistan? The Government faces serious charges of election fraud 
and corruption, and it appears to be losing control over much of the 
country as the Taliban moves in.
  Question nine: Is this a winnable war? In General McChrystal's recent 
report he states that although the situation is serious, success is 
still achievable, but we still don't have a definition of success.
  Final question: Is the war in Afghanistan really the best approach to 
protect the American people from terrorism? Our focus needs to be on 
protecting the people of the United States and stopping the 
international spread of terrorism. If this war is not the best way to 
do that, we need to leave. We cannot send more troops to fight for an 
undefined amount of time in an undefined mission and for an undefined 
success.

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