John Kerry actually said...

"Casualty rates have risen for American troops, for our coalition partners, for Afghan security forces, and especially for Afghan civilians."

"The Afghan people have little affection for the Taliban; that is very, very clear."

"Deploying an additional 17,700 troops to Afghanistan is necessary to reverse the tide and prevent the Taliban insurgency from gaining unstoppable momentum."

"To leave Afghanistan to the capacity of al-Qaeda to simply return... would be far, far more dangerous for the world."