[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 132 (Tuesday, September 28, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H6998-H7000]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN STUDY GROUP
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Wolf) for 5 minutes.
Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share with my colleagues the
text of a letter I sent today to President Obama, Secretary Gates,
Admiral Mullen, and all other parties in the administration charged
with executing the war effort. I will enclose in my correspondence to
the administration a copy of a letter from a constituent who is a
mother of six children, all of whom are currently serving or have
served in the U.S. military.
I submit for the Record a copy of my original letter to the President
as well as a copy of the letter from my constituent.
My letter today to the administration will read, in part, ``I implore
you to consider my constituent's views--the views of an `American
mother with children glad to serve our country,' and to move swiftly to
establish an Afghanistan-Pakistan Study Group, modeled after the Iraq
Study Group, to bring `fresh eyes' to the war effort in Afghanistan.
``The group would be comprised of nationally known and respected
individuals who love their country more than their political party and
would serve to provide much-needed clarity to a policy that
increasingly appears adrift.
``Candidly, after reading yesterday's Washington Post piece adapted
from Bob Woodward's Obama's Wars, I have serious concerns that the
needed clarity about our aim in Afghanistan ever existed within the
administration. Woodward writes, `Even at the end of the process, the
President's team wrestled with the most basic questions about the war,
then entering its ninth year: What is the mission? What are we trying
to do? What will work?'
``These are sobering questions--but they are questions that must be
answered, and the Afghanistan-Pakistan Study Group is just the means to
arrive at these answers in a way that honors our men and women in
uniform.
``In the halls of Congress or the White House, at Foggy Bottom or the
Pentagon, public discussions can at times be detached from the actual
lives that are most directly impacted by the decisions being made. This
couldn't be further from the case for this mother. She doesn't have
that luxury when it comes to the war in Afghanistan. And we mustn't
either.
``This is not a matter of politics--or at least it ought not be--for
it is always in our national interest to openly assess the challenges
before us and to chart a clear course to victory. Frankly, I've been
deeply troubled by Woodward's reporting which indicates that
discussions of the war strategy were infused with political
calculations. An Afghanistan-Pakistan Study Group could help redeem
what was clearly a deeply flawed process.''
I close with a line from my constituent. She said, ``The casualties
suffered aren't just numbers to me. Each name, each face, represents a
family who is paying the ultimate price--the loss of a son or a
daughter, brother or sister, father or mother; a family that will never
be the same. Therefore, I wholeheartedly support the formation of an
Afghanistan-Pakistan Study Group in the hope that it will help to turn
the tide of this war and lessen the number of casualties as well.''
I hope the President and his advisers will heed the eloquent words of
this military mother who has six children serving and another child is
married to a marine. And many have served in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
Congress of the United States,
House of Representatives,
August 4, 2010.
Hon. Barack H. Obama,
The President,
Washington, DC.
Dear Mr, President: On September 14, 2001, following the
catastrophic and deliberate terrorist attack on our country,
I voted to go to war in Afghanistan. I stand by
[[Page H6999]]
that decision and have the utmost confidence in General
Petraeus's proven leadership. I also remain unequivocally
committed to the success of our mission there and to the more
than 100,000 American troops sacrificing toward that end. In
fact, it is this commitment which has led me to write to you.
While I have been a consistent supporter of the war effort in
both Afghanistan and Iraq, I believe that with this support
comes a responsibility. This was true during a Republican
administration in the midst of the wars, and it remains true
today.
In 2005, I returned from my third trip to Iraq where I saw
firsthand the deteriorating security situation. I was deeply
concerned that Congress was failing to exercise the necessary
oversight of the war effort. Against this backdrop I authored
the legislation that created the Iraq Study Group (ISG). The
ISG was a 10-member bipartisan group of well-respected,
nationally known figures who were brought together with the
help of four reputable organizations--the U.S. Institute for
Peace, the Center for the Study of the Presidency, the Center
for Strategic and International Studies, and the Baker
Institute for Public Policy at Rice University--and charged
with undertaking a comprehensive review of U.S. efforts
there. This panel was intended to serve as ``fresh eyes on
the target''--the target being success in Iraq.
While reticent at first, to their credit President Bush,
State Secretary Rice and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld came to
support the ISG, ably led by bipartisan co-chairs, former
Secretary of State James Baker and former Congressman Lee
Hamilton. Two members of your national security team,
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and CIA Director Leon
Panetta, saw the merit of the ISG and, in fact, served on the
panel. Vice President Biden, too, then serving in the Senate,
was supportive and saw it as a means to unite the Congress at
a critical time. A number of the ISG's recommendations and
ideas were adopted. Retired General Jack Keane, senior
military adviser to the ISG, was a lead proponent of ``the
surge,'' and the ISG referenced the possibility on page 73.
Aside from the specific policy recommendations of the panel,
the ISG helped force a moment of truth in our national
conversation about the war effort.
I believe our nation is again facing such a moment in the
Afghanistan war effort, and that a similar model is needed.
In recent days I have spoken with a number of knowledgeable
individuals including former senior diplomats, public policy
experts and retired and active military. Many believe our
Afghanistan policy is adrift, and all agreed that there is an
urgent need for what I call an Afghanistan-Pakistan Study
Group (APSG). We must examine our efforts in the region
holistically, given Pakistan's strategic significance to our
efforts in Afghanistan and the Taliban's presence in that
country as well, especially in the border areas.
This likely will not come as a surprise to you as commander
in chief. You are well acquainted with the sobering
statistics of the past several weeks--notably that July
surpassed June as the deadliest month for U.S. troops. There
is a palpable shift in the nation's mood and in the halls of
Congress. A July 2010 CBS news poll found that 62 percent of
Americans say the war is going badly in Afghanistan, up from
49 percent in May. Further, last week, 102 Democrats voted
against the war spending bill, which is 70 more than last
year; and they were joined by 12 members of my own party.
Senator Lindsay Graham, speaking last Sunday on CNN's ``State
of the Union,'' candidly expressed concern about an ``unholy
alliance'' emerging of anti-war Democrats and Republicans.
I have heard it said that Vietnam was not lost in Saigon;
rather, it was lost in Washington. While the Vietnam and
Afghanistan parallels are imperfect at best, the shadow of
history looms large. Eroding political will has
consequences--and in the case of Afghanistan, the stakes
could not be higher. A year ago, speaking before the Veterans
of Foreign War National Convention, you rightly said, ``Those
who attacked America on 9/11 are plotting to do so again. If
left unchecked, the Taliban insurgency will mean an even
larger safe haven from which al Qaeda would plot to kill more
Americans. So this is not only a war worth fighting . . .
this is fundamental to the defense of our people.'' Indeed it
is fundamental. We must soberly consider the implications of
failure in Afghanistan. Those that we know for certain are
chilling--namely an emboldened al-Qaeda, a reconstituted
Taliban with an open staging ground for future worldwide
attacks, and a destabilized, nuclear-armed Pakistan.
Given these realities and wavering public and political
support, I urge you to act immediately, through executive
order, to convene an Afghanistan-Pakistan Study Group modeled
after the Iraq Study Group. The participation of nationally
known and respected individuals is of paramount importance.
Among the names that surfaced in my discussions with others,
all of whom more than meet the criteria described above, are
ISG co-chairs Baker and Hamilton; former Senators Chuck Robb,
Bob Kerrey and Sam Nunn; former Congressman Duncan Hunter;
former U.S. ambassador Ryan. Crocker; former Secretary of
Defense James Schlesinger, and General Keane. These names are
simply suggestions among a cadre of capable men and women, as
evidenced by the make-up of the ISG, who would be more than
up to the task.
I firmly believe that an Afghanistan-Pakistan Study Group
could reinvigorate national confidence in how America can be
successful and move toward a shared mission in Afghanistan.
This is a crucial task. On the Sunday morning news shows this
past weekend, it was unsettling to hear conflicting
statements from within the leadership of the administration
that revealed a lack of clarity about the end game in
Afghanistan. How much more so is this true for the rest of
the country? An APSG is necessary for precisely that reason.
We are nine years into our nation's longest running war and
the American people and their elected representatives do not
have a clear sense of what we are aiming to achieve, why it
is necessary and how far we are from attaining that goal.
Further, an APSG could strengthen many of our NATO allies in
Afghanistan who are also facing dwindling public support, as
evidenced by the recent Dutch troop withdrawal, and would
give them a tangible vision to which to commit.
Just as was true at the time of the Iraq Study Group, I
believe that Americans of all political viewpoints, liberals
and conservatives alike, and varied opinions on the war will
embrace this ``fresh eyes'' approach. Like the previous
administration's support of the Iraq Study Group, which
involved taking the group's members to Iraq and providing
high-level access to policy and decision makers, I urge you
to embrace an Afghanistan-Pakistan Study Group. It is always
in our national interest to openly assess the challenges
before us and to chart a clear course to success.
As you know, the full Congress comes back in session in
mid-September--days after Americans around the country will
once again pause and remember that horrific morning nine
years ago when passenger airlines became weapons, when the
skyline of one of America's greatest cities was forever
changed, when a symbol of America's military might was left
with a gaping hole. The experts with whom I have spoken in
recent days believe that time is of the essence in moving
forward with a study panel, and waiting for Congress to
reconvene is too long to wait. As such, I am hopeful you will
use an executive order and the power of the bully pulpit to
convene this group in short order, and explain to the
American people why it is both necessary and timely. Should
you choose not to take this path, respectfully, I intend to
offer an amendment by whatever vehicle necessary to mandate
the group's creation at the earliest possible opportunity.
The ISG's report opened with a letter from the co-chairs
that read, ``There is no magic. formula to solve the problems
of Iraq. However, there are actions that can be taken to
improve the situation and protect American interests.'' The
same can be said of Afghanistan.
I understand that you are a great admirer of Abraham
Lincoln. He, too, governed during a time of war, albeit a war
that pitted brother against brother, and father against son.
In the midst of that epic struggle, he relied on a cabinet
with strong, often times opposing viewpoints. Historians
assert this served to develop his thinking on complex
matters. Similarly, while total agreement may not emerge from
a study group for Afghanistan and Pakistan, I believe that
vigorous, thoughtful and principled debate and discussion
among some of our nation's greatest minds on these matters
will only serve the national interest. The biblical
admonition that iron sharpens iron rings true.
Best wishes.
P.S. We as a nation must be successful in Afghanistan. We owe
this to our men and women in the military serving in harm's
way and to the American people.
____
Dear Congressman Wolf: I have read your proposal for the
formation of an Afghanistan/Pakistan Study Group with deep
personal interest and approbation. I applaud its respectful,
well-reasoned, bipartisan approach to rethinking the war in
Afghanistan. The following are my personal thoughts regarding
this war. Please accept them as the insights of an average
American mother.
It has been troubling to me how distant this war is for so
many Americans. Many are only vaguely aware of the events
taking place, other than perhaps the recent increase in the
number of casualties. Even gathering information of what is
daily happening in Afghanistan hasn't been easy. I comb the
internet daily searching many different online news sources
in an attempt to be informed. Our country is at war and yet
so often the top news items contain nothing regarding it.
Often it is the local papers in towns with soldiers, sailors
and marines serving in Afghanistan that contain the most
news. Other times it is the news stations with an embedded
reporter who will have a flurry of articles while the
reporter is there but then nothing once they return.
The War on Terror is not just impersonal news but it is a
war that strikes very close to home. My father has a dear
friend whose son-in-law died in the Twin Towers. I have a
friend who lost a son in Iraq during the battle for Fallujah.
A student of mine lost her fiancee in the war. My children
and son-in-law have served in both Iraq and Afghanistan and
have buddies injured or killed in action.
One of my daughters is currently serving in Afghanistan in
a Combat Support Hospital. She arrived in time to experience
first hand the peak number of casualties in June and July. In
a recent news interview her Commanding Officer said they are
seeing an almost constant stream of casualties; something
that none of them were prepared for, but will remember the
horrors of the rest of their lives.
[[Page H7000]]
It has sometimes appeared that the efforts in Afghanistan
have trudged along, with success measured in part by the
areas in which we have gained some measure of control versus
the price paid in human lives both civilian and military. The
casualties suffered aren't just numbers to me; each name,
each face, represents a family who is paying the ultimate
price, the loss of a son or daughter, brother or sister,
father or mother; a family that will never be the same.
Therefore, I wholeheartedly support the formation of an
Afghanistan/Pakistan Study Group in the hope that it will
help to turn the tide of this war and lessen the number of
casualties as well.
I, too, have a deep respect and confidence in Gen. Petraeus
and would not want my comments to be construed as being
critical of the leadership of our military. I have no formal
training in political science or history so please accept
these comments as simply the perspective of an American
mother with children glad to serve our country.
God bless you and give you wisdom as you serve in the
leadership of our country.
Sincerely,
------
P.S. It meant so much to see my sons receive a standing
ovation when introduced during last week's luncheon. It is
these very Lance Corporals, Corporals and Sergeants who are
almost daily listed among the casualties. My son, ------
remarked that listening to your speech ``restored his faith
in the republic.'' Thank you again for recognizing their
service.
____________________