[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 26 (Thursday, February 16, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H811-H812]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 BRING THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN TO AN END

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Lee) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. LEE of California. Mr. Speaker, first let me just thank my 
colleagues, Congressman Jones, Congressman McDermott, Congressman 
Ellison and others, for speaking out this morning clearly, saying that 
it's past time to bring the war in Afghanistan to a swift and orderly 
end.
  There's no military solution in Afghanistan. We need to bring our 
troops home now, and we need to make sure that we leave no permanent 
military bases. The American people are sick and tired of the past 
decade of war, and they want this war to end.

[[Page H812]]

  At a time when tens of millions of Americans are unemployed and 
nearly 50 million Americans are living in poverty, the Pentagon is 
requesting almost $100 billion in the President's budget to fund 
Overseas Contingency Operations, including the wars in Iraq and 
Afghanistan.

                              {time}  1100

  First of all, we all thought the war in Iraq was really supposed to 
be over. So why in the world are we spending billions of dollars on a 
war that we are no longer fighting? Mr. Speaker, we've already spent 
over $1.3 trillion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and we cannot 
afford to blindly continue down this path.
  The reason, of course, that I voted against that original resolution 
in 2001 authorizing the use of military force was because it was a 
blank check for war against any nation, anywhere, anytime, any 
organization, and any individual.
  The situation we are in right now, being asked to spend another $100 
billion on endless war, is exactly what we should have considered 10 
years ago when we went down this path. This war without end must end.
  While everyone would like a stable democracy in Afghanistan, the 
facts on the ground suggest that we are not headed in that direction, 
yet we've spent hundreds of billions of dollars there. Instead of a 
stable democracy, we have a corrupt state that relies almost entirely 
on foreign countries for its budget.
  The reality on the ground in Afghanistan stands in stark contrast to 
the steady reports of progress we have been hearing from those who seek 
to maintain a military presence in Afghanistan in 2014 and beyond. It's 
time to bring our troops home from Afghanistan--not in 2014, not next 
year, but right now.
  Later today, some of us will be meeting with the courageous Army 
officer Colonel Daniel Davis. Colonel Davis wrote a revealing account 
of the war in Afghanistan after witnessing the huge gap between what 
the American public was being told about progress in Afghanistan and 
the dismal situation on the ground.
  Colonel Davis' assessment is backed up by a recently released report 
from Afghanistan's NGO safety officer. The report warns NGO employees 
in Afghanistan not to take seriously the message of advances in 
security coming from the Pentagon.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that this page from the Afghanistan NGO safety 
officer quarterly data report be inserted into the Record.

                         AOG Initiated Attacks

       AOG initiated attacks grew by 14% over last year and 
     demonstrated an enhanced operational tempo--with 64% of all 
     operations occurring before the end of July (compared to 52% 
     in 2010)--and then trailing off sharply once OP BADR ended 
     over Ramadan.
       The tactical portfolio remained consistent with 2010, with 
     close range engagements (SAF/RPG) making up the bulk of 
     operations (55%) and IED/IDF operations at 44%. Suicide 
     attacks remained at just 1% of the total yet caused close to 
     70% more fatalities this year, including roughly 400 Afghan 
     civilians (230 in 2010).
       Throughout the year ISAF made a number of statements 
     claiming a 3% reduction in attacks between Jan Aug when 
     compared with 2010. We are not in a position to evaluate 
     their data but, obviously, we do not agree with their finding 
     and advise NGOs to simply ignore it as practical security 
     advice--a use for which it was likely never intended in any 
     case. We find their suggestion that the insurgency is waning 
     to be a dangerous political fiction that should be given no 
     consideration in NGO risk assessment for the coming year.
       Interestingly, our data does find that this year's 14% 
     growth rate (what you might call the IEA profit margin) is 
     substantially lower than previous years (above right) 
     suggesting that there has indeed been some serious reduction 
     in the effort that the IEA is putting in. Whether this 
     reduction has been forced upon them by ISAF or whether they 
     consciously chose it--on the calculus that there is no point 
     sprinting to the finish if everyone else has dropped out of 
     the race--is unknown to us and, we suspect, to ISAF.

  The report reads:

       We find their suggestion that the insurgency is waning to 
     be a dangerous political fiction that should be given no 
     consideration in NGO risk assessment for the coming year.

  ``A dangerous political fiction''--that is how this organization 
dedicated to ensure the safety of NGO employees in Afghanistan 
characterizes the rosy reports of steady progress in Afghanistan. Mr. 
Speaker, if we're going to ask our brave men and women in uniform to 
continue to risk their lives in Afghanistan, the least we can do is be 
frank and honest about how we are doing in Afghanistan. Our soldiers 
deserve to know the truth, and the American people deserve to know the 
truth after spending the past decade fighting wars.
  The war in Afghanistan has already taken the lives of almost 1,900 
soldiers and drained our treasury of over $500 billion in direct costs. 
Those costs will only go up as we spend trillions of dollars on long-
term care for our veterans, which we must do.
  We are set to spend an additional $88 billion in Afghanistan over the 
next year while domestic cuts in education, health care, roads, 
bridges, and other essential priorities are sacrificed. Again, I 
repeat, it is time to bring our troops home from Afghanistan, not in 
2014, not next year, but right now.
  Let me conclude by saying that as the daughter of a 25-year Army 
officer who served in two wars, I salute our troops, and I honor our 
troops. Our service men and women have performed with incredible 
courage and commitment in Afghanistan. But they have been put in harm's 
way, and they have performed valiantly. It's time to bring them home.

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