[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 106 (Monday, July 19, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H5696]
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 North Carolina (Mr. Jones) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JONES. Madam Speaker, tonight I would like to bring up the issue 
of Afghanistan. This weekend in the Raleigh News and Observer, they 
published 20 names of our men and women who have given their lives for 
this country. As most of you know, I have written over 9,000 letters to 
immediate and extended families of the fallen. Lately, the numbers have 
dramatically increased. More and more of our sons and daughters in 
uniform are paying the ultimate price.
  I would like to reference this poster beside me. The picture's of a 
flag-draped coffin being carried off a plane. This is war. This is the 
reality of war.
  In a recent debate on the floor of the House regarding Afghanistan, I 
made reference to conservative George Will and liberal Thomas Friedman. 
Both have stated in written editorials that there is nothing we can 
accomplish in Afghanistan. In an article published in Newsweek 
yesterday, Richard Haass shares this opinion. His article is entitled, 
``We're not winning. It's not worth it.''
  In my remaining time I would like to share some thoughts of a former 
general who's my personal adviser on Afghanistan. These are his words, 
not mine: ``The basic 'mission' of defeating al Qaeda in Afghanistan is 
a sham. Our own intelligence tells us that there are only about 50 al 
Qaeda members in the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan . . . 
certainly nothing worth sending thousands upon thousands of our best 
young men and women to fight. Al Qaeda is not a geographic entity . . . 
it cannot be pinpointed to a single area. Attacking them in Afghanistan 
or Pakistan just pushes them to other locations . . . Yemen is the 
perfect example. It is like playing the child's game 'Whack a Mole.' 
Stop al Qaeda in one area and they will just pop up in another. Bottom 
Line: the war against terror is not to be found in the mountains of 
Afghanistan or Pakistan . . . as we have vividly seen in Uganda and the 
U.S. recently.''
  Madam Speaker, I mention that, and I have this poster that shows, 
again, as I have been repetitive for just one moment, the number of 
young men and women coming back from Afghanistan and Iraq in a flag-
draped coffin.
  It's our policy, responsibility on the House floor and in the Senate 
to debate policy. These young men and women are doing exactly what they 
joined the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force and have sworn they 
will do for this country. They will go when their leaders call upon 
them to go. It is our responsibility on the floor of the House to 
debate the policy, and the policy on Afghanistan has been proven from 
Alexander the Great to the English, to the Russians, to all the 
countries: you are taking a country with over 1,400 tribes and trying 
to make it a nation. It just is not going to happen.
  And it's not fair to our men and women in uniform to continue to send 
them back 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 deployments. We had a marine recently down at 
Camp Lejeune, which is in my district, a sergeant who committed suicide 
right there on the streets of Camp Lejeune.
  We are wearing out our military. It's time to have another debate on 
the floor of the House, and it's time to bring these troops home and 
rebuild our military and rebuild the equipment and make America's 
military strong again.
  Madam Speaker, I will close with this: God, please bless our men and 
women in uniform. Please bless the families of our men and women in 
uniform. And, God, in Your loving arms hold the families who've given a 
child dying for freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq. And, God, give the 
strength to the House and the Senate that we will do what is right in 
the eyes of God and give strength to Mr. Obama to do what is right in 
the eyes of God.
  And, God, three times I will ask from the bottom of my heart, God, 
please, God, please, God, please continue to bless America.

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