Bill Nelson: “over the recess I had the privilege of going to the other side of planet Earth in the area of central Asia with 8 other…”

“over the recess I had the privilege of going to the other side of planet Earth in the area of central Asia with 8 other of our colleagues. The delegation was led by the Senator from Connecticut, Mr. Lieberman, and the Senator from Arizona, Mr. McCain. In 7 days, we visited the heads of government of 6 nations. And what was a delightful surprise to our delegation was the fact that each one of the leaders of those countries wanted to express appreciation to the United States for us being involved in their countries to help rid them of terrorists. They implored us, after this initial thrust of military success, not to turn on our heels and walk away. Indeed, if you look back in history, the United States made a mistake a little over a decade ago. We were involved, in the 1980s, in Afghanistan--albeit clandestine--as we were helping the Afghans try to repel and expel the Soviet Union, which was trying to take over Afghanistan. And when the Soviet Union was whipped and tucked its tail between its legs and left, then the United States left also. That created a political vacuum--a vacuum that begs to be filled by political leaders, and that is the vacuum that was filled by the terrorists--ultimately, the very repressive Taliban regime. So let's take a lesson from history and let's not repeat it.”