Members of Congress debate war

Re-reporting, compiling and editing by Carolyn Bennett

More is never enough — bring them home now

AFGHANISTAN

 Pro-war

“In January, Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Carl Levin (D-Michigan) urged U.S. President Barack Obama to sign off on a proposal to expand Afghan forces to 378,000.” He said that both the Head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen and U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates supported this increase.

“The Pentagon’s fiscal 2012 budget request includes $12.8 billion for Afghan national security forces, a figure that Gates said the United States cannot sustain indefinitely.” Having it both ways, pro and con, Secretary Gates “said he supports the plan to begin drawing down U.S. troops in Afghanistan in July, based on conditions on the ground [and] he does not want the drawdown to prompt a ‘rush to the exits’ by the 50,000 allied troops currently deployed to Afghanistan.”

The Administration’s mendaciousness evidenced in Defense officials’ testimony before Congress “is considering boosting the Afghan security forces by as many as 73,000 [AND preparing] to begin a gradual drawdown of troops from the country in July.” Issues ‘still very much in discussion,’ Mullins told the Senate Armed Services Committee, include the exact size of the Afghan security force and the speed of growth of that force. The administration is considering expanding the Afghan army and police force by 352,000 to 378,000 [by October], “a significant increase from the current goal of 305,000 personnel in the security forces.”

AFGHANISTAN

Anti-war

“I am on the Armed Services Committee and I remember a few years ago when they were telling us, these generals would come in — and I respect each and every one of them — and they would say to us: ‘Well, we’re making progress,’” North Carolina Representative Walter Jones spoke into the Congressional Record. “‘We’re training the Afghans to be policemen. We’re training the Afghans to be soldiers.’”

However, Jones said, “We are 10 years later and still training. How much more can you do? It is costing us $8 billion a month and more important than the money is the lost lives and the broken bodies of our men and women in uniform.”

Jones reported visiting the Walter Reed military hospital complex in Bethesda, Maryland, and on his way to meeting a young soldier, the military escort alerted him that the soldier he was about to visit “has no body parts below his waist. They have all been blown away.”

Jones said he also visited a marine sergeant “who had been to Afghanistan four times and on the fourth tour [this marine] had his left leg blown off.…”  

Marines from the Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Jones’ district, are young, 19 to 38 years old, he said. They “have given their lives for this country [and] … many times I wonder here in Congress why we do not bring up this issue of bringing our troops home from Afghanistan…  

“What in the world are we trying to do?” Jones asked. Sixty-three percent of the American people say it is time to get out of Afghanistan and “it is time that this Congress listens and speaks up.”

More is never enough

“If they say it is going well in Afghanistan, they want more troops and more resources and more time,” Congresswoman Lee told the press. “If they say it is going poorly, they come back and they say they want more troops and more resources and more time.”

U.S. Representatives Barbara Lee and Walter Jones together with reportedly 46 cosponsors are again proposing legislation to end the war against Afghanistan. Free Speech Radio News yesterday reported, “a bipartisan group of U.S. Congress members is introducing legislation that would end the war in Afghanistan.

“The bill would require any funds authorized for the military in Afghanistan to be used to withdraw troops and contractors. It also prohibits the use of appropriations for combat purposes.”

Republican Jones said, “There is nothing we can win over there because we don’t have an end point to the war strategy; if you don’t have an end point, you don’t know what you are looking to achieve. It is time to bring them home. The American people are fed up and tired of seeing the broken bodies and flag draped coffins.”

Democrat Lee added, “I don’t believe and I think many don’t believe —and the American public certainly doesn’t believe— that a military solution is either feasible, affordable, or in the national security interests of the United States.”

There is another way, California Representative Lynn Woolsey has said repeatedly. In her “Alternatives to War,” she writes, “Instead of continuing the long-term military operations that are increasingly exacting their tolls in lives lost and billions of dollars spent, we need to pursue a smart security strategy for the conflicts America faces. Such a strategy is the best way to keep our country safe in the long run.”

Woolsey said, “We should back up our men and women in uniform with a new approach to national security — one that emphasizes preventing war instead of preemptive war.”   Her “Alternatives to War” proposal anchors in “smart security [treating] war as an absolute last resort by —

• Strengthening intelligence and law enforcement while respecting human and civil rights

• Pursuing diplomacy, enhanced inspection regimes, and regional security arrangements to reduce the proliferation of nuclear weapons

• Ceasing the sale and transfer of weapons to regimes involved in human rights abuses and to regions of conflict

• Increasing development aid and debt relief for the world’s poorest countries

• Reducing dependence on foreign oil by promoting long-term energy security through greater investment in sustainable and renewable alternatives

• Supporting civil society programs as a critical component in the prevention and resolution of violent conflict

“Smart security defends America,” Woolsey concludes, “by relying on — our capacity for global leadership — our compassion for the people of the world — our commitment to peace and freedom.”

Sources and notes

“Administration considers expanding Afghan security forces” (Megan Scully National Journal), February 17, 2011, http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=47146&oref=todaysnews

“Bring Our Troops Home” — (House of Representatives - January 24, 2011), Congressional Record article 7 of 18

“The bipartisan bill to end the Afghan war,” Free Speech Radio News Segments February 17, 2011,

http://fsrn.org/audio/bipartisan-bill-end-afghan-war/8042

“Alternatives to War — Getting Smart about National Security,” (updated January 2011), http://woolsey.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=43&sectiontree=5, 43; also “Woolsey, 61 Colleagues Urge Obama Not to Delay Redeployment of Troops from Afghanistan,” November 19, 2010, http://woolsey.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=18&parentid=6&sectiontree=6,18&itemid=794

Jones

Congressman Walter Beaman Jones Jr. represents the U.S. state of North Carolina. He was born in Farmville, North Carolina and studied and received degrees colleges and academies in Virginia and North Carolina. Before coming to the U.S. Congress, he was a member of the North Carolina state house of representatives (1983-1992). He was elected as a Republican to the One Hundred Fourth Congress and to the eight succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1995-present), http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=J000255

Lee

Congresswoman Barbara Lee represents the U.S. state of California. She was born in El Paso, Texas and studied and received degrees from colleges in California. Before coming to the U.S. Congress, she was a member of the California state assembly (1991-1997); member of the California state senate (1997-1998). She was elected as a Democrat to the One Hundred Fifth Congress in a special election to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of United States Representative Ron Dellums. She was reelected to the seven succeeding Congresses (April 7, 1998-present), http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=L000551.

Woolsey

Congresswoman Lynn C. Woolsey represents the U.S. state of California. Woolsey was born in the state of Washington and studied and received academic degrees in Seattle and San Francisco, California, colleges.  Before coming to the U.S. Congress, she was a member of Petaluma, California’s city council (1984-1992); vice mayor of Petaluma (1989 and 1992). She was elected as a Democrat to the One Hundred Third and to the nine succeeding U.S. Congresses (January 3, 1993-present), http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=W000738

LONG PAST TIME FOR THIS ONE TO GO

Levin

Congressman Carl Levin represents the U.S. state of Michigan. Levin was born in Detroit and studied and received degrees from colleges in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. Before coming to the U.S. Congress, he was a lawyer for the state (1964-1969); a member of the Detroit City Council (1969-1977). He was elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in 1978 for the term beginning January 3, 1979, and reelected in 1984-2002 and 2008 for the term ending January 3, 2015, http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=L000261

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