[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 128 (Wednesday, September 22, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H6862-H6863]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  THE DEADLIEST YEAR OF THE AFGHAN WAR

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Bright). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) is recognized for 
5 minutes.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, the bad news in Afghanistan just continues 
to pile up. This week, a helicopter crash in the southern part of the 
country brought the number of 2010 coalition fatalities to 529. That 
makes this the deadliest of the 9 years we have been mired in this war. 
And, of course, we still have more than 2 months remaining before the 
calendar turns.
  Meanwhile, these deaths appear to be in vain. While Afghan citizens 
who turned out to vote this weekend must be saluted for their courage, 
well, the fact that courage was required to exercise a basic democratic 
right is rather telling in and of itself. But the parliamentary 
elections were marred by violence, not to mention all kinds of fraud 
and irregularities. Time Magazine quotes one candidate as saying, ``It 
was complete anarchy. Everyone was trying to manipulate this 
election.''
  Mr. Speaker, Afghanistan's financial infrastructure is crumbling 
almost as badly as is its democratic infrastructure. One of the 
nation's most prominent banks is teetering on the brink of collapse, at 
the same time that cronies and relatives of President Karzai appear to 
have used the bank to line their own pockets.
  And in yesterday's New York Times, there was a long story about how 
families are dressing their little girls as boys, just so they can get 
a job and an education--and even so they can preserve the family's 
honor to have more boys than girls.
  Steven Walt of Harvard University, a member of the Afghanistan Study 
Group, summarizes the bleakness of the situation. In the last few 
years, Walt says, ``We have had a fraudulent presidential election, an 
inconclusive offensive in Marja, a delayed and downgraded operation in 
Kandahar, and a run on the corrupt bank of Kabul. Casualty levels are 
up, and aid groups in Afghanistan now report that the security 
situation is worse than ever, despite a heightened U.S. presence.''
  Mr. Speaker, other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?
  Seriously, there is little to be encouraged by in Afghanistan. And 
that is the situation that it is in now. Now, a new book that has come 
out this week by Bob Woodward reveals that even top White House 
officials were deeply skeptical about escalating the war. The Special 
Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan is quoted as saying of our strategy, 
point blank, ``It can't work.''
  He is right, Mr. Speaker. But what can work is a smart security 
approach, one that replaces the military surge with a civilian surge. 
At this point, a military occupation can't cure what ails Afghanistan; 
it can only spread the disease. But an influx of humanitarian aid can 
deliver a brighter, peaceful future for Afghanistan, elections that are 
free and fair, government leaders with legitimacy and integrity, 
schools that educate all children--even the Afghan girls, or especially 
the Afghan girls--and an economy that creates opportunity and lifts 
people out of poverty.
  The current policy is not redeemable. It will continue to engender 
death, destruction, instability, and chaos. There is only one answer, 
Mr. Speaker: Bring our troops home.

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