Brian Jones: “I am on the floor again today to talk about Afghanistan--the absolute waste of life and money. A lot of people don't…”

“I am on the floor again today to talk about Afghanistan--the absolute waste of life and money. A lot of people don't realize this, but if you go back to 2001, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, we have spent over $1.5 trillion, which averages out to about 11.2 million tax dollars paid every hour by the American people. In today's national paper, the USA Today--and other headlines--the headline is this: ``Obama to Karzai: Time running out for security deal.'' Madam Speaker, based on recent polls, this would be good news for the American people if we would not continue this relationship with Afghanistan. It is nothing but an absolute waste of the taxpayers' money, and the American people are sick and tired of it. A recent poll last week by Gallup showed that almost 50 percent of the American people believe that the war in Afghanistan was a mistake to start with. I can honestly say this: If it was not a mistake to start with, it is a mistake now that we continue to support and spend money on a corrupt leader named Karzai. Madam Speaker, as I listened to the Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel yesterday talk about financial pressure on our military and the budget that he will be supporting that Mr. Obama has proposed, I wonder why we in Congress are not allowed to debate on the floor of this House--and I am not talking about the Senate now--whether we believe that we should have a 10-year agreement with Afghanistan.…”