Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today because I feel like I have a case of deja vu. Two years ago, I stood on this floor, on the eighth anniversary of our invasion of Afghanistan, and asked: Have our 8 years, 791 American deaths, and billions of U.S. dollars spent in Afghanistan made America safer? Today, I stand in the same place asking the same question. Now, 10 years have passed, 1,800 American lives have been lost, and we have spent almost half a trillion dollars, and I have to ask again: Have 10 years in Afghanistan made America safer? Sadly, just as I concluded 2 years ago, I must conclude again today, they have not. We went into Afghanistan under the mantle of protecting America's national security. The perpetrators of September 11, al Qaeda, were in Afghanistan, and we had to go after them. But just as was the case 2 years ago, al Qaeda is no longer primarily in Afghanistan. In fact, only 50 to 100 al Qaeda operatives are estimated to be operating in Afghanistan. Al Qaeda's primary hub is still located across the border in tribal areas of Pakistan. And other al Qaeda cells are operating around the world in Yemen, North Africa, and through affiliated groups in Southeast Asia and Uzbekistan. Threats to America are not from Afghanistan but from ungoverned spaces around the world and even right here on American soil. A review of recently foiled terrorist plots shores up the widespread origins of U.S.-centered terror attempts.…”