On the recordJuly 6, 2011
We have three security objectives in Afghanistan. The first is to make sure the Taliban don't take over the entire country. The second is to keep al Qaeda out of the country. And the third is to have a permissive environment from which we can strike targets in Pakistan at will, as we did with Osama bin Laden. Cutting the legs under the current strategy of giving them the capability of standing up their own security forces completely undermines where we are right now and undermines the President's goals of being able to do that transfer of operational control by 2014. Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to vote against the amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.
