Political Quotes

“I am going to try to make some sense of this. We just had an amendment where we were debating providing the Authorization of Use of Military Force to the President, and we wanted to make certain that the President had the authority, and this is the portion of our bill where we actually provide authority. The word ``authority'' is throughout these sections that are, by this amendment, being asked to be deleted. But as Mr. Ellison stated, we should look to the commanders on the ground. So let's look at what they have said. General Campbell, testifying about the Haqqani network, said that it remains the most capable threat to U.S. and coalition forces. Now, what does threat mean? It means that they are trying to kill us and our coalition forces. It is a State Department-designated terrorist organization which harbors al Qaeda and is the most lethal actor on the battlefield. These provisions that will be deleted relate to our ability to fight them. Approximately 30 percent of district centers are under Taliban control and influence or are at such risk, says General Campbell. Now, General Nicholson, who is currently the commander, is doing his review. That is correct. But what we are doing in these provisions is providing the status quo. We are not presuming that he is going to come back and say: Let's cut; we can go do this with less troops.…”