William M. ``Mac'' Thornberry: “Essentially this amendment says get out now; leave Afghanistan regardless of the consequences. I appreciate the honesty…”

“Essentially this amendment says get out now; leave Afghanistan regardless of the consequences. I appreciate the honesty and the forthright nature of this amendment offered by the gentlelady from California. It is better to say up front what you're trying to do rather than put various conditions on it, or to tie our troops' hands in some way, or to not put enough troops in the field in order to accomplish the mission we're asking them to do. This is very clear. It says leave now. And it is tempting for all of us because we have been there for awhile. I want our troops to leave as soon as possible consistent with national security. As a matter of fact, the underlying bill says that the United States military should not maintain an indefinite combat presence in Afghanistan and should transition to a counterterrorism and advise-and-assist mission at the earliest possible date consistent with the conditions on the ground. And that's really the difference-- consistent with the conditions on the ground. We believe, I believe, you have to take account of what the situation is there, and you cannot just abandon Afghanistan and ignore, stick your head in the sand and pretend it's not going to have consequences. I think it's important to remember why we're there to begin with. We're not there because of them. We're there because of us. We're there to make sure that Afghanistan is no longer used as a safe haven, as a base which will be used to launch attacks against us.…”