Political Quotes

“I remember being on the ground in Afghanistan 2 months after that war began. I had the opportunity during a very short period of time to see what needed to be done. I left, brought back an aircraft carrier battle group for that war. Then we brought that battle group into the Persian Gulf for what we thought would be the starting run of the Iraqi conflict, and thinking what a tragic misadventure this would be. Those words were brought back to me as I thought about them 18 months later when I returned on the ground in Afghanistan and saw what had not been accomplished when I had known what had to be done. Because we diverted our attention and our resources, our Psychological Operations Forces, our Special Operations Forces, our Civil Affairs Forces and the attention of this Nation from Afghanistan to Iraq. To me, Afghanistan is prey to terrorists now once again as the Taliban regain control in parts of the southern provinces. And as we look inserting more forces back into Afghanistan, it is a poster child for what Iraq is really about.”