[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 21]
[House]
[Page 29025]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     AMERICAN TROOPS IN AFGHANISTAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, after the tragedy of 9/11, I voted for the 
resolution that authorized military action against those who attacked 
us, including sending our troops into Afghanistan. We sent a strong, 
unified message that we will never yield to terrorism. We have not just 
the right but the duty to keep America secure. I certainly agreed with 
taking out Osama bin Laden. It is outrageous that the Bush-Cheney-
Rumsfeld administration failed to stop him, unnecessarily prolonged 
this conflict, strengthened our enemies as their attention and our 
resources were diverted to an ideologically driven invasion of Iraq.
  Surely all Americans should respond affirmatively to President 
Obama's call last night for unity of purpose in keeping our families 
secure and overcoming all of those who would do us harm. I agree with 
so very much of what President Obama said, but not so much with what 
and how he said he would accomplish our shared goal.
  It is true he had no really good and easy alternatives, and I applaud 
his deliberative effort. But the path to peace and security will not be 
found through a wider war. It is wholly unrealistic to expect that we 
can escalate our military forces in the harsh, faraway landscape of 
Afghanistan by another 40 percent, then deescalate and begin bringing 
them home all within a mere 18 months.
  We have been fighting in Afghanistan on the installment plan. A few 
more troops, a few more months, and a whole lot more money--billions. 
There is no way that 2011 will mark the end of this war or even the 
beginning of the end. This is just a mirage. In 18 months the reasons 
may vary, but the next installment will be requested in what is already 
a deteriorating war that has lasted 8 years with the illusive end of 
the war always just over the horizon.
  The better exit strategy is to have fewer troops who need to exit. We 
should honor the sacrifice of those who are courageously serving and 
put fewer of them into harm's way. It should not take 100,000 highly 
equipped and trained American troops to defeat less than 100 al Qaeda 
in Afghanistan, an estimate yesterday from the President's National 
Security Adviser.
  Once again, we hear talk of a grand coalition, but make no mistake, 
it is Americans who are being asked to bear the overwhelming share of 
the burden. As these troops would arrive in Afghanistan, the Canadians, 
the Dutch, they have already announced they will be bringing their 
troops home at the same time our people get there.

                              {time}  1815

  The French and the Germans have said not one more troop. Spain may 
increase its total to 1,200. Iceland has two, Luxembourg has nine. 
Every bit of help counts certainly, but it's clear that the great 
amount of blood that will be spilt will, once again, be American, and 
the cost will be to the American taxpayer.
  Now, United States Army doctrine, as written by General Petraeus, 
calls for one counterinsurgent for every 50 members of the population. 
In Afghanistan, with a population of 30 million, that would work out to 
about half a million additional troops, not 30,000. Whatever the exact 
number is, it is clear that to meet the military's own objectives, more 
installments are in order. All this effort to prop up a corrupt Karzai 
government that just stole over 1 million votes to keep itself in power 
as it attempts to control a fraction of the country of Afghanistan.
  My fellow Americans, we must chart a better course. Congress has a 
constitutional responsibility to scrutinize this request carefully as 
well as how to pay for it, to find a better way to achieve our shared 
goals of protecting every American family. To do otherwise will leave 
us embroiled in an Afghanistan that can consume, as it has throughout 
human history, as many lives and as many dollars as we are willing to 
expend there. And such a painful, unending sacrifice may well make our 
families less, not more, secure.

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