Brian Jones: “Yesterday in the Republican Conference, I acknowledged that five marines and one soldier from my district, the Third…”

“Yesterday in the Republican Conference, I acknowledged that five marines and one soldier from my district, the Third District of North Carolina, had been killed in Afghanistan by the Afghans they were training. This, to me, just does not make any sense at all as to why we stay in Afghanistan. I also shared with the Conference an email I got from the former Commandant of the United States Marine Corps, who has actually been my adviser on Afghanistan for 3 years. I said, Mr. Commandant, why do we stand by and see our American soldiers, Marines, killed by those people we're training? I said, Mr. Commandant, how many more have to die, killed at the hands of the people they're trying to help? And I read this from the Commandant: At the end of the day, I am more convinced than ever that we need to get out of Afghanistan. When our friends turn out to be our enemy, it is time to pull the plug. The idea that troops we have trained and equipped now turn that training and equipment on us is simply unconscionable. Whether we leave tomorrow or 1,000 tomorrows from now, nothing will really change. We are now nothing more than a recruiting poster for every malcontent in the Middle East. We need to wake up. I read that yesterday in the Conference, Mr. Speaker. I want my party and the Democratic party to wake up and get our troops home. Mr.…”