Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise in support as a cosponsor of this amendment, and I thank Congresswoman Lee for her steadfast leadership on this issue. This amendment requires that we act on evidence. And we know that based on the evidence, our Afghanistan policy is a failure. Numerous revised strategies and restated mission statements, from President Bush, to Prime Minister Gordon Brown, to Prime Minister Blair, to President Obama, restated mission statements that continue to fall short of the touted successes, so-called successes. The U.S. military reported today that 102 coalition forces were killed in June alone, along with countless Afghanis, rivaling the heights of the Iraq war. It's time to cast aside a policy of increasing entrenchment and use our resources to bring our troops, our treasure home. I want to be perfectly clear: My opposition to the war is opposition to the policy; it's not to the brave men and women who serve this country with honor. But we do them an injustice by not having a real debate on the floor of this House about this policy and its failure. I have seen the conditions on the ground, just recently in May, for myself, and I can assure you this war will never end quickly, if at all. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment. And whether it was McKiernan, McChrystal, Petraeus, it's not just about the generals; it's about the policy. And it's a failure.”