[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 23610]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   THE AFGHANISTAN REVIEW: THAT'S IT?

  (Ms. WOOLSEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Madam Speaker, after more than 9 years of the war in 
Afghanistan and a troop surge that supposedly was going to turn the 
tide, all we have are modest gains that are fragile and reversible. For 
the price of $377 billion, the lives of 1,400 brave Americans, that's 
it?
  We need to hear more than ``the challenges are tough and there are 
difficult days ahead.'' We need to hear more than ``stay the course'' 
platitudes that do little to eliminate the situation for the American 
people who are footing the bill.
  Columnist Eugene Robinson assessed the review this way: ``The good 
news is that President Obama's strategy in Afghanistan is `on track.' 
The bad news is that the track runs in a circle.''
  Round and round on that track we go, Madam Speaker. More of our 
finest young people thrown into harm's way, more dollars flying out of 
the Treasury, more of our global credibility destroyed.
  And because the track runs in a circle, we always seem to wind up in 
the same place--no closer to defeating the terrorists, no progress made 
on key national security objectives.
  Here are some unvarnished facts you didn't hear emphasized in the 
Afghanistan review:
  Casualties are rising to record-setting levels. The Taliban remains 
not just viable but robust, while Afghan governance remains ineffective 
at best, corrupt at worst.
  Hamid Karzai remains an unreliable loose cannon, lashing out--
according to one report--that he'd choose the Taliban over the United 
States and the international community.
  The security situation continues to deteriorate, with violence so 
great that the Red Cross says it's nearly impossible for them to do 
their humanitarian work.
  An article in the Washington Post several days ago put it best: 
``Afghanistan still remains a violent chaotic nation with as many signs 
of American defeat as of victory.''
  With that context, what do we make of Secretary Gates saying that 
progress in Afghanistan has ``exceeded my expectations''? I shudder to 
think at just how low his expectations were.
  The American people, however, have high expectations. that's why 60 
percent of them, according to a recent poll, believe that this war 
isn't worth fighting.
  Sixty percent, Madam Speaker! My friends on the other side of the 
aisle are claiming a ringing mandate with less public support than 
that.
  And the Afghan people are no more enthusiastic. not even one-third of 
them rate the work of the work of the U.S. in their country as 
excellent or good.
  And despite all this, the response appears to be not an accelerated 
drawdown, but an escalation of violence.
  There are reports that the United States is considering expanding the 
war across the border in an unprecedented way, with risky and dangerous 
Special Operations ground raids into Pakistan.
  We can't take much more, Madam Speaker. This occupation has been 
given every chance to succeed. The time for patience has long since 
passed. It's time to bring the troops home.

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