Barbara Lee: “I hope you look at this map, and you will see exactly where the 2001 authorization has been used for military strikes…”

“I hope you look at this map, and you will see exactly where the 2001 authorization has been used for military strikes and force. Two decades later, as outlined in the Afghanistan Papers, which I hope the Speaker has read, published in The Washington Post, I believe this was in December, the false justifications and inconsistencies led to a 19-year, endless war--Washington Post, Afghanistan Papers. The Pentagon consistently misled and lied to the American people about our progress in Afghanistan. This endless war has caused countless deaths of servicemembers, innocent civilians. It has cost trillions of dollars. It has created repercussions throughout the region and the world. It is truly concerning, and I urge my colleagues to read through the details of this report. Our own generals and ambassadors did not know then, and still do not know what our strategy was or why we are still involved in this war. We must ask ourselves: Why are we putting our servicemembers into harm's way? Why are innocent civilians' lives in flux? Why are we making our country less safe? But it wasn't just in 2001 when we passed an open-ended authorization. Next, in 2002, I stood here with my colleagues to urge us not to rush to war in Iraq based on false intelligence, mostly, weapons of mass destruction, and to vote against the 2002 AUMF.…”