On the recordSeptember 20, 2012
In April of the year 2004, I rose in this Chamber to speak for 5 minutes about my conviction that the war in Iraq was a dangerous, immoral policy, and it was hurting America and our national security. Since then, I've delivered a similar message nearly every day that it was possible when we were in session, and once the Iraq war finally drew to a close, I moved on to focus on the ongoing military occupation of Afghanistan, which soon will be in its 11th year, costing us more than 2,000 American lives and more than half a trillion dollars and counting. Today is my 440th 5-minute Special Order calling for an end of these wars and the safe return of our troops to their families right here at home. I'm not proud of having reached that number. I would much prefer that the speeches were no longer necessary. But since I'm retiring from the House at the end of this year, my 20th year in Congress, one of my biggest disappointments is that we haven't shown the leadership, the courage, and the resolve to finally secure peace. We are still mired in this Afghanistan conflict, even though the evidence is overwhelming that it's doing more harm than good, even though it's emboldening terrorists and insurgents rather than defeating them, even though it's breeding resentment of America instead of winning hearts and minds. We are still mired in this conflict, even though a clear majority of the American people no longer want any part of it.…
