Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts for his courtesy in permitting me to speak on this. I continue to have profound reservations about our troop commitments, first in Iraq and more recently with President Obama's decision to escalate our presence in Afghanistan. History suggests we will not be successful in stabilizing Afghanistan with military force. No one has. I don't think anyone ever will. Afghanistan today is perhaps the most corrupt country in the world, ranked next to last out of 180, according to Transparency International. If you have a culture of corruption, it's hard to plant seeds. It's hard to rent allies and have them remain loyal. Global economic development through roads and water are not esoteric, abstract issues. These are things that make a difference between people being thugs and, in some cases, feeding their families in any way they can, having little sympathy for infidels and drug problems. The magnitude of spending that we're involved with here needs to be put in perspective. Each one of these additional troops that we are sending over costs $1 million a year to support. We are going to be spending as a Nation $7,000 for each of the 14.5 million Afghanis in the workforce. {time} 1315 Our military spending per Afghan worker is 20 times what that worker will earn in an entire year in Afghanistan. At the same time, there is a dire need for the most basic of services.…”