Tragically, Mr. Speaker, July didn't hold the record for long. It was quickly replaced by August as the deadliest month. Now, 55 of our troops have died in October, making this the deadliest month yet.

We can't blame the troops for this, of course. They continue to fight with tremendous skill and with bravery. They do everything our Nation asks of them.

So what's to blame? It's our strategy. It's a strategy which has relied almost exclusively on military action for over 8 years while ignoring the critically important political, economic, and cultural aspects of the conflict. Yet President Obama is now being urged to double down on the military-only policy that has failed us and send in another 40,000 troops.

If we go down that road, what can the American people expect? They can expect higher troop levels, higher casualty rates, and many years of war that can end up costing us over a trillion dollars. Even if we do all that, the odds will still be stacked against us. That's not a strategy for success, Mr. Speaker. I think we can do better.

If we want to succeed in Afghanistan, we must change the way we do business there. Instead of fighting extremists after they have gotten a foothold, let's invest our resources on what would prevent violent extremism from taking root in the first place. That includes economic development, jobs, reconstruction, education, health care, civil affairs, and diplomacy. All would help stabilize Afghanistan.

Mr. Speaker, a serious commitment to a civilian surge of experts and aid workers to help the Afghan people develop their economy would make a huge difference over there. We must also develop a much better set of rigorous metrics to evaluate progress and report the results to the American people. Then we could develop an exit strategy. We could send the message that our involvement in Afghanistan is not open-ended.

It would also help to reassure the Afghan people that we have no intention of occupying their land, because right now too many Afghan citizens see America as an occupying force. That, more than anything else, Mr. Speaker, is fueling anti-Americanism and the insurgency. We must also do everything we can to assure a credible central government in Kabul to help with humanitarian and other efforts to improve the lives of the Afghan people. These are just some of the elements of smart security that we need to use in Afghanistan.

I have offered a comprehensive strategy for smart security in House Resolution 363, because I firmly believe that it would be a blueprint for victory against extremism in Afghanistan and other parts of the world. Mr. Speaker, by shifting from military power only to smart power, we can help Afghanistan to build a stable and functioning State. We can save the lives of our troops, and we can go a long way toward defeating the extremists who threaten America and the world.