[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 103 (Tuesday, July 13, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1296]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF SENATE AMENDMENTS TO H.R. 4899, 
                 SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2010

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                               speech of

                           HON. ANNA G. ESHOO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, July 1, 2010

  Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to state how I will vote on the 
war in Afghanistan and why.
  Today Congress considers whether to continue funding operations in 
Afghanistan, and as we do, we must scrutinize the policy, the price 
being paid, and the outcomes for our national security. This is a 
deeply profound examination and its outcome will decide life or death 
for some of our troops.
  It's hard to believe that the eighteen year olds who enlist today to 
fight and die in Afghanistan were in fourth grade when the World Trade 
Center and Pentagon were attacked in 2001. Now it is 2010. This 
conflict is now the longest war in our nation's history and it has been 
accompanied by tragic loss of American lives and those of innocent 
civilians.
  The history of Afghanistan is instructive. It is called the graveyard 
of empires for a reason. No one since Ghengis Khan has been able to 
hold the country--not Alexander the Great, not the Persians, not the 
Ottomans, not the British, not the Russians. It's said that the 
definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and 
expecting different results. We should learn from the examples of those 
who preceded us in Afghanistan.
  President Obama told the troops that the mission must be definable 
and it must be winnable. I believe it is neither.
  We are losing more and more precious lives--102 in June alone. And 
every month security has not improved after $300 billion in military 
spending and more than 1,000 American lives lost.
  We have a corrupt partner with the Karzai regime and when the Afghan 
people see the U.S. supporting their government, they believe we have 
taken one side in their own civil war. No counter insurgency effort has 
succeeded when the partner is corrupt. If the Afghans don't want us 
there, and do not wish to protect their own towns and villages, no 
amount of armies and firepower can change this dynamic.
  I applaud the work our troops have done in disrupting Al Qaeda, and 
the risks they have taken to prevent terrorist attacks here at home. 
According to the CIA Director, Al Qaeda is down to 50 to 100 operatives 
in Afghanistan. We have achieved our goals, and we should leave before 
our continued presence unites the other insurgent groups in the region 
against us.
  I have tremendous respect for the men and women--civilian and 
military--who are risking their lives every day in Afghanistan. I have 
met them, and I am impressed by their selfless dedication to the 
mission and belief in the cause.
  The President's strategy is not succeeding, and rather than ask 
Americans to put their lives on the line for another eighteen months 
for what has become an impossible task, I will vote for Congressman 
McGovern's amendment to require a withdrawal plan by April 2011 and end 
this war.

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