Costs Too High for Aghanistan War

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, the recent congressional elections here in the United States focused on many issues, but the war in Afghanistan was not one of them.

There is no draft in this country. We have an all-volunteer Armed Forces. Only a small percentage of our population is at risk. And no one is paying for the war. It is all going on America's credit card. We are borrowing all the money to pay for this war. So, why should anyone pay attention?

I believe, Mr. Speaker, that we must pay more attention. There is absolutely no excuse for our collective indifference. At 109 months, this is the longest war in our history. Over 1,400 of our uniformed men and women have lost their lives in Afghanistan. Over 8,700 have been wounded in action.

High levels of deployment continue to strain our uniformed men and women, their families and their communities. In spite of the military's best efforts, suicide and post-traumatic stress rates continue to soar and our ability to care for the wounded is severely overburdened.

The ability of individual servicemembers and their units to rest, recuperate, retrain and reequip themselves for redeployment is stretched beyond its limits. And in Afghanistan, our so-called ally, President Hamad Karzai, is corrupt. The Afghan military and the police are not reliable partners and al Qaeda is someplace else.

A few weeks ago, President Obama told us we are in Afghanistan for at least another 4 years, maybe more. The question is, for what? Why do we need to sacrifice more precious American lives? Why do we need to continue to align ourselves with a crooked government that routinely commits fraud in elections? Why aren't we instead using all of our resources to go after the terrorists that murdered so many of our civilians on September 11?

The Republicans won back the majority of the House by promising to control spending and reducing the deficit. This war has already cost us over $450 billion. When combined with the cost of the war in Iraq, it accounts for 23 percent of our combined deficits since 2003.

Where is the outcry from the tea partiers and the deficit hawks? Fiscal conservatives should be outraged that this war is being financed with borrowed money. And for those who support the war, you should pay for it. And where is the liberal outrage? For those of us who are tired of being told that we don't have enough money to extend unemployment benefits or invest in green jobs or new jobs, we should be yelling and screaming at the fact that when it comes to the war in Afghanistan and supporting Hamad Karzai, our Treasury is an ATM machine.

Let us put in perspective what this war truly costs and what we must give up in order to maintain the status quo. According to Nobel Laureate and Columbia University professor Joseph Stiglitz, testifying before the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, the total cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, including interest payments on the money borrowed for these wars and taking care of our wounded soldiers and veterans, will likely be between $4 trillion and $6 trillion. Yes, Mr. Speaker, between $4 trillion and $6 trillion.

On Saturday, December 11, Mr. Speaker, another soldier from my district sacrificed his life in Afghanistan. Army Specialist Ethan Goncalo was just 21 years old when he died in Kabul. He is the third graduate of Durfee High School in Fall River to die in uniform this year, and the fourth servicemember from Fall River, a town of 90,000 residents. His loss is deeply felt in this tight-knit community, and my thoughts and prayers are with his parents, family, friends, and schoolmates.

Mr. Speaker, I believe the human and financial costs of this war are unacceptable and unsustainable. It is bankrupting us. We need a plan to extricate ourselves from Afghanistan, not a plan to stay there for 4 more years and ``then we'll see.'' This doesn't mean that we abandon the Afghan people, Mr. Speaker. Rather, we should abandon this war strategy. It hasn't brought stability to Afghanistan, and it is not enhancing our own national security.

Ending war is politically difficult. It is easier for politicians to ``go along'' rather than make waves. But, Mr. Speaker, this isn't about politics. It's about doing the right thing. And the right thing is to end this war.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source