[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 169 (Monday, November 16, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H12983]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 SENDING MORE TROOPS IS NOT THE ANSWER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Madam Speaker, Matthew Hoh, a former Marine captain, 
recently resigned his job as U.S. Government reconstruction official in 
Afghanistan. In his letter of resignation, he criticized the American 
strategy in Afghanistan. He said the presence of large numbers of U.S. 
troops is making the insurgency stronger because it makes the Afghan 
people see America as an occupying power, a power that must be opposed.
  Now, before anybody accuses Captain Hoh of being a long-haired hippie 
peacenik, keep in mind that he fought with distinction in Iraq before 
serving in Afghanistan. He believes in the American military. He 
supports it with all his heart.

                              {time}  1930

  In fact, he says that ``no nation has ever known a more dedicated 
military as the U.S. Armed Forces. The performance of our troops,'' he 
says, ``is unmatched.''
  But he also, Madam Speaker, believes that no military force has ever 
been given such a complex mission as the U.S. military has received in 
Afghanistan.
  Captain Hoh is right. Our troops have been given an impossible job, 
and now we are seeing the tragic results. Over 1,000 American troops 
have been wounded in battle in just the past 3 months. That accounts 
for one-fourth of all the casualties we've taken since the war began in 
October 2001.
  Think about it. The war has been going on for 97 months in 
Afghanistan, and one-fourth of all the casualties have been suffered in 
just the last 3 months.
  Things have gotten so bad, Madam Speaker, in fact, that the casualty 
rate in Afghanistan is now actually higher than the casualty rate for 
American troops at the height of the violence in Iraq. And the spike in 
the casualty rate occurred after the administration sent 21,000 more 
troops to Afghanistan in the hope that there is a military solution to 
the problem.
  But relying on military power alone has not done the job, and 
escalating the war now by sending in tens of thousands more troops 
won't solve the problem either.
  That's why I am calling on President Obama to change our mission in 
Afghanistan. I have urged him to devote most of our efforts on 
humanitarian aid, diplomacy, and economic development. These are the 
elements of ``SMART Security.'' They'll do a much better job of 
stabilizing Afghanistan than a heavy military footprint.
  Without this change in strategy, our troops are likely to face worse, 
not better, situations. The enemy is learning how to use IEDs more 
efficiently. Lieutenant Thomas Metz, the director of the Pentagon's 
effort to reduce IED casualties, has acknowledged that sending more 
troops to Afghanistan will likely mean more IED deaths and injuries, 
which include spinal cord damage, traumatic brain injuries, and 
amputations.
  So I urge the administration to move in a new and a different 
direction for the sake of our country and for the sake of America's 
troops and their families. And I urge every Member of the House to 
listen to the words of Matthew Hoh, who wrote the following to a State 
Department official:
  ``I trust you understand the sacrifices made by so many thousands of 
military families whose homes bear the fractures, upheavals, and scars 
of multiple deployments. Thousands of our men and women have returned 
home with wounds, some that will never heal. The dead return only in 
bodily form to be received by families who must be assured that their 
dead have sacrificed for a purpose worthy of futures lost.''
  Madam Speaker, the casualty rate in Afghanistan is unacceptable. 
Continuing the same policies that put our brave troops at risk is 
unthinkable. That's why it's time to put SMART Security to work in a 
place where military power alone just isn't the answer.

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