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Hot Topics:
IRAQ
& SMART Security Platform for the 21st Century Platform
Floor Statements
To Watch Video of Lynn's Iraq Floor Statements,
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We Must Not Repeat the Mistakes of the Past (#306)
Watch Video | | March 26, 2009 | |
| Madam Speaker, the Obama administration is finalizing its strategy for Afghanistan, and it may announce the results of its war review in the next few days.President Obama inherited the situation in Afghanistan. He is a leader who prefers diplomacy over war. The United States is organizing an international conference on Afghanistan to reach out to the international community for their help. And there is talk about sending a civilian surge, a surge of experts in such areas as agriculture, reconstruction, rebuilding, and education to Afghanistan, all very positive steps.
Since President Obama, however, has said that he will send at least 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan and possibly more, I am deeply concerned. It will take years, and it will take a lot of blood and treasure to fight a war in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It could bog us down and distract us from our enormous domestic problems right here at home. It could cost us lives. It would cost us economic treasure, and it would cost us, actually it would leave our reputation, international reputation in tatters.
Our 6-year occupation of Iraq, which continues, as I speak, has been a disaster that we absolutely must learn from. Using military force to solve problems that don't have a military solution doesn't work. Foreign occupation doesn't work. According to a new Army report, there are still over 100 attacks per week on our troops in Iraq.
Another occupation, Madam Speaker, halfway around the world, raises serious questions that Congress needs an answer to. So last month, I joined my colleagues, Congresswoman Barbara Lee and Congresswoman Maxine Waters, and since we wrote a particular letter to the President and sent it, 10 other Members have signed on, and we're going to send that letter on to him also, raising these issues.
We and the others made six recommendations. These recommendations are:
1. Ask Congress for a clear authorization for the use for military force in Afghanistan and Pakistan;
2. Define the goals objectives and benefits of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan;
3. Determine the human and financial resources needed to carry out our efforts;
4. Develop a timeline for the redeployment of our troops and military contractors out of Afghanistan;
5. Clearly describe the role of NATO, the United Nations and other international partners;
6. And finally, meet the immediate humanitarian and economic needs of the Afghan people.
Madam Speaker, these six steps offer a good blueprint for avoiding a repeat of the mistakes that the United States made in Iraq. We need nation building, not empire building, because the way to defeat our enemies is to help the Afghan people to rebuild their country and to give them hope for a better future. Schools and roads will win us more hearts and minds than bombs and bullets.
And a new foreign policy, based on conflict resolution and humanitarian assistance, is the most responsible and smartest way for us to achieve our goals in the Middle East and Central Asia. I hope that President Obama's new plan for Afghanistan will reflect this strategy and these values, because if we don't learn from our Iraq experience, we are doomed to repeat it. |
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