[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 110 (Monday, July 26, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H6028]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   KARZAI'S LIP SERVICE ON CORRUPTION

  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, I think we have seen this movie before.
  Last week, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, before an audience 
of international leaders on whose support he depends, pledged to root 
out corruption, implement reforms and run a better government, but we 
heard the same promises at an earlier conference this January ;and we 
heard them again when President Karzai came to Washington for a state 
visit in May. There seems to be little accountability when he fails to 
keep his word, as he never comes away from any of these gatherings with 
more than a slap on the wrist, if that.
  If Mr. Karzai is serious about cracking down, why doesn't he start by 
reining in his own brother, a strongman who rules Kandahar with iron-
fisted intimidation? What does President Karzai have to say about the 
fact that billions of dollars in cash have been flown out of Kabul 
Airport in the last few years?
  Lip service and vague promises are really not enough, Madam Speaker. 
What is sustaining the Taliban more than anything else is the 
Afghanistan Government's failure to have any competency or legitimacy. 
No one is more frustrated than the Afghan people, who voiced their 
displeasure with government corruption in a recent survey conducted by 
an Afghan watchdog group.
  Bribery shakedowns are increasingly seen as a way of life. The cost 
of securing basic services from the government depends on paying 
somebody off. Even when the government isn't dishonest, it is slow and 
ineffective. Embarrassingly, in the provinces where they have 
established a foothold, the Taliban runs a tighter ship than does the 
Afghan Government, doing a competent job of making the trains run on 
time.
  This cannot go on, Madam Speaker. Our continued support for a 
feckless regime is eroding our national credibility. The American 
people, who are fighting off a recession and who are badly in need of 
the money right here at home, resent sending that money to Afghanistan. 
They can't be expected to keep on doing this. They can't be expected to 
keep giving their bravest young people and their hard-earned tax 
dollars to prop up leaders who have no ability to govern responsibly.
  Yet, even as skepticism about the war in Afghanistan grows here in 
our country, our leaders could be going in the opposite direction. 
There is legitimate concern that they might be going wobbly on the 
commitment to start the military redeployment out of Afghanistan 1 year 
from now.

  At the conference in Kabul, Secretary of State Clinton said that the 
July 2011 date represented the start of a new phase, not the end of our 
involvement. She added that the United States has ``no intention of 
abandoning our long-term mission of achieving a stable, secure, 
peaceful Afghanistan.''
  Well, Madam Speaker, if the Secretary means that we would achieve 
that mission with civilian resources--a Smart Security strategy which 
is focused on development projects, on humanitarian aid and on more 
support for anti-corruption efforts--then count me in, but if she means 
that our military commitment and occupation to Afghanistan will extend 
well beyond next summer, I think the American people will have 
something to say about that. In fact, they are saying it now. They are 
saying it loud and clear.
  We have sacrificed enough for a failed war. It is time to bring our 
troops home.

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