Political Quotes

“I thank the gentlelady from California. Previously, my good friend with whom I've worked for more than 35 years in various levels of government challenged me on the position I take with regard to winding down quickly the war in Afghanistan. His recitation of history, while accurate, is woefully incomplete. Much of what we are now fighting was actually begun by Charlie Wilson, morphed over this period of time perhaps by Pakistan. But we're caught in the middle of a civil war, not just a civil war, but a five- way civil war, one that has gone on for at least the last 35 years. We are, as my friend Mr. McGovern just stated, backing a government that is, on the face of it, corrupt by any standard. So what are we doing here? What is this all about? In fact, we went into Afghanistan to get al Qaeda, and we did. There is only a handful there. There are probably far more al Qaeda sympathizers--and maybe active members--in the United States than in Afghanistan. So why do we have over 100,000 American troops and another 40,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan? I did not suggest that we leave in a vacuum. Instead, I said we leave a small force behind that goes after al Qaeda. Take them out wherever they happen to be. Bring our troops back home. Go back to the original mission in Afghanistan. Go after al Qaeda. You're quite correct, my colleagues. They're in Somalia; they're in Yemen; and they're in other parts of this world.…”