As Afghan War Enters 9th Year, Rep. Barbara Lee Seeks to Block New Troop Surge / Barbara Lee, Abgeordnete im US-Repräsentantenhaus gegen Aufstockung der Truppen für Afghanistan
Interview mit der Abgeordneten, die 2001 als einzige im Kongress gegen den Afghanistan-Krieg gestimmt hat / "Democracy Now" speks to Democratic Congressmember Barbara Lee
As Afghan War Enters 9th Year, Rep. Barbara Lee Seeks to
Block New Troop Surge / Barbara Lee, Abgeordnete im US-Repräsentantenhaus gegen Aufstockung der Truppen für Afghanistan
Interview mit der Abgeordneten, die 2001 als einzige im Kongress gegen den Afghanistan-Krieg gestimmt hat / "Democracy Now" speks to Democratic Congressmember Barbara Lee
On the eighth anniversary of the war in Afghanistan, we
speak to Democratic Congressmember Barbara Lee, the
only lawmaker in either chamber of Congress to vote
against the 2001 resolution authorizing the initial use
of force. Lee recently introduced legislation to
prohibit funding to send more troops to Afghanistan.
Rep. Barbara Lee, the only lawmaker in either chamber
of Congress to vote against the 2001 resolution
authorizing the use of force in Afghanistan. She has
introduced legislation to prohibit funding for another
surge in Afghanistan.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Today marks the eighth anniversary of
the war in Afghanistan. On October 7th, 2001, US
submarines launched cruise missiles from the Arabian
Sea and B-52 and B-2 stealth bombers began air strikes.
The war was on. It came less than a month after 9/11.
The Pentagon called it Operation Enduring Freedom.
Since then, nearly 900 US troops have been killed, 230
of them in this year alone, putting 2009 on track to be
the deadliest year for US forces. There is no reliable
count on the number of Afghan civilians killed, but
some estimates put the figures in the tens of
thousands.
Today, the war enters its ninth year with no clear end
in sight. On Tuesday, President Barack Obama told
congressional leaders he has ruled out a US troop
withdrawal and will not consider cutting troop levels.
The President was meeting with thirty key Republican
and Democratic lawmakers at the White House as part of
an extensive review of the war.
Obama escalated the war upon entering office earlier
this year, sending an additional 21,000 troops, which
brings the US total to 68,000. He is expected to decide
soon on whether to send tens of thousands more, as
requested by US commander General Stanley McChrystal.
But some on Capitol Hill are trying to prevent another
surge. Democratic Congress member Barbara Lee has
introduced legislation to prohibit funding to send more
troops to Afghanistan. The bill has twenty-one co-
sponsors. In 2001, Congress member Lee was the only
lawmaker in either chamber of Congress to vote against
the 2001 resolution authorizing the use of force in
Afghanistan.
Congress member Lee will join us live from Capitol Hill
in a moment, but first we want to turn back to her
impassioned speech opposing the war. This is what she
said on the floor of the House on September 14th, 2001,
three days after the 9/11 attacks.
REP. BARBARA LEE:
Mr. Speaker, members, I rise
today really with a very heavy heart, one that is
filled with sorrow for the families and the loved
ones who were killed and injured this week. Only
the most foolish and the most callous would not
understand the grief that has really gripped our
people and millions across the world. This
unspeakable act on the United States has really
forced me, however, to rely on my moral compass,
my conscience and my God for direction.
September 11th changed the world. Our deepest
fears now haunt us. Yet I am convinced that
military action will not prevent further acts of
international terrorism against the United
States. This is a very complex and complicated
matter.
Now this resolution will pass, although we all
know that the President can wage a war even
without it. However difficult this vote may be,
some of us must urge the use of restraint. Our
country is in a state of mourning. Some of us
must say, let's step back for a moment. Let's
just pause, just for a minute, and think through
the implications of our actions today, so that
this does not spiral out of control.
Now I have agonized over this vote. But I came to
grips with it today, and I came to grips with
opposing this resolution during the very painful,
yet very beautiful, memorial service. As a member
of the clergy so eloquently said, "As we act, let
us not become the evil that we deplore."
Thank you, and I yield the balance of my time.
(Barbara Lee, September 14th, 2001)
JUAN GONZALEZ: Congress member Barbara Lee, speaking on
the House floor on September 14th, 2001. Congress
member Lee joins us now from Capitol Hill.
Welcome to Democracy Now!
REP. BARBARA LEE: Glad to be with you this morning.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Your thoughts, all these years later, of
that speech and what you urged your fellow members of
Congress?
REP. BARBARA LEE: Eight years later, I feel the same
way, of course, still very sad about the loss of life,
still praying for the families of those who lost their
loved ones. It was a very difficult time, and it still
is a very difficult time for our country.
During that time, you know, we had to, I understand,
figure out a strategy to respond. However, as I said on
the floor, military action is not going to combat or be
the appropriate counterterrorism strategy, because it's
very complicated. Secondly-and we need a more
comprehensive approach to dealing with global
terrorism.
Secondly, as I think about eight years ago, it's hard
to believe that we gave the authority to the President
to use force in perpetuity. Only Congress can declare
war. And in fact, this blank check that was given to
then President Bush, now any future president, was
really, I believe, unconstitutional. Congress should
never cede our authority in our declaration of war
making ability, and that is just based on what the
Constitution requires. And we did not do that. And so,
it was a blank check. It allowed for the military
operation, the war in Afghanistan. It served as the
basis for the war against Iraq. It could be used over
and over again, unless we put an end to this.
You can't have endless war forever. And so, we have to
figure out new ways to combat terrorism. And in fact, I
am proud and pleased that the President is really
trying to think this through and trying to come up with
a way to approach the world, really, in terms of our
global peace and security strategies that are a new
direction from the past.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Well, eight years ago, you were the lone
member of Congress opposing this war. Now you've got
about two dozen co-sponsors on your bill that would
prohibit a further surge in Afghanistan. Could you talk
about your legislation and its prospects?
REP. BARBARA LEE: Sure. And the American people really,
I believe, do not want to see an increase in troop
level in Afghanistan. I serve as a member of the
Appropriations Committee. And, of course, any bill like
this is a very difficult one to pass. All it says is
that no funds will be appropriated for an increase in
troop levels in Afghanistan. We do have twenty-one co-
sponsors, but we're building support for that.
Several months ago, we also tried to pass Congressman
McGovern's resolution, which I co-sponsored, requiring
an exit strategy to be put in place by December, to
just present a plan with regard to redeployment or
exiting out of Afghanistan. Of course, that did not
pass either. I believe we were able to garner 138
votes.
But let me just say how important it is to offer a
broader point of view in this debate, a different point
of view. Up until now, we have had very little debate
on Afghanistan and an appropriate US role there and
what we should do. Now we are close to perhaps sending
additional troops, but we don't hear a different
alternative that could present a clearer path to
regional stability. And, of course, the mission is
ensuring US national interest and national security
interests. And so, what my resolution does, at least it
has now created a space here in the House for a real
debate on should we increase troop levels. If not, what
should we do? What should our strategy be? And what is
the mission in Afghanistan? And again, I think the
President is absolutely right in taking his time to try
to sort this through, and we have to provide him with
all of the points of views that he will have to listen
to and deal with when in fact he decides-he makes his
decision.
JUAN GONZALEZ: But the President obviously has already
increased the troop levels by 20,000 earlier in the
year, and he held a meeting at the White House
yesterday with congressional leaders. Your sense of
whether he will get the uniform support that Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid initially suggested might be
coming his way, no matter what his decision is?
REP. BARBARA LEE: I don't have a sense of that. I do
have a sense of the President and his deliberative
process that he is undertaking, which I think is
absolutely correct. And he's listening to a variety of
points of views.
And as a member of Congress, not as a member of the
executive branch, but as a member of Congress, whose
constitutional responsibility is to protect our troops,
to make sure that if there are going to be military
operations that there is a declaration of war, I cannot
support an increase in troop level, because there-first
of all, there's no declaration of war. We have given
the authority, I think unconstitutionally, to the
administration to wage war, endless war, until in fact
the administration decides that it's no longer needed.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Would you take the step of trying to
block appropriations for the war effort if the
escalation in troop levels goes through?
REP. BARBARA LEE: I have not supported any increase in
appropriations for either the war in Iraq, the
occupation of Iraq, nor the war and occupation of
Afghanistan. My resolution would deny funding for any
increase in troop levels. Now, let me just say, it's a
very hard position to take, and that is a very hard
policy to move through the House of Representatives,
but I cannot support an increase in funding for this.
You know, we need to look at Pakistan. Pakistan,
unfortunately, has nuclear arsenals that we have to
focus on. That's where al-Qaeda is. When you look at
Afghanistan, the poppy seeds have-the poppy fields, you
know, are grown now. We're witnessing another influx in
heroin in the United States. We have to look at a more
comprehensive strategy, as it relates to Afghanistan,
that requires more public diplomacy. Also it requires
more economic strategies to make sure that the farmers
have alternative crops. And in fact, we have to really
look at how we address issues with regard to women. We
have to look at ensuring that our tax dollars aren't
being ripped off by corruption.
And so, there are many, many issues with regard to
Afghanistan, in terms of the Taliban and in terms of
contrasting that with what we need to do in Pakistan,
that we really need to focus on objectively and make
some hard decisions there.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Well, General Stanley McChrystal is
believed to be seeking 40,000 more troops to be
deployed to Afghanistan. He said the situation there is
deteriorating. I want to play some of his comments and
get your response.
GEN. STANLEY McCHRYSTAL: The situation is
serious, and I choose that word very, very
carefully. I also say that neither success or
failure for our endeavor there in support of the
Afghan people and the government can be taken for
granted. My assessment, my best military
judgment, as I term it, is that the situation is
in some ways deteriorating. We need to reverse
the current trends, and time does matter. Waiting
does not prolong a favorable outcome.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Congress member Lee, your response to
General McChrystal and also to the critics who say that
the politicians in Washington shouldn't be second-
guessing the assessments of the military commanders?
REP. BARBARA LEE: Let me say, the situation is
deteriorating in Afghanistan. We've been there eight
years, and it has not worked. And it's deteriorating,
so he's absolutely correct.
The more military-first strategies that are employed
with regard to Afghanistan, the worse it's going to be.
The counter, you know, impact is what's happening now.
More troops become occupiers, as perceived by the
Afghani people. The hostility, the violence continues
to increase. And in fact, I'm not willing to warrant
our young men and women placed in harm's way. It has
not worked over the last eight years. We're digging
ourselves deeper in a hole. There is no military
solution in Afghanistan.
I believe if you look at history, you'll see that the
British tried, the Soviets tried. This has a historical
context, which we have to understand and remember.
And so, if it hasn't worked in eight years, with more
troops and more troops, more militarization, more
occupation of that country, I think we need to look at
new strategies and a more comprehensive approach to
address the security issues in Afghanistan, as well as
the economic stability of that country.
JUAN GONZALEZ: And finally, I'd like to ask you whether
you think the allegations of massive fraud in the
Afghan-the recent Afghan elections have had any impact
on how your colleagues in Congress regard their
willingness to support the continued US presence in the
country.
REP. BARBARA LEE: Well, we shall see. You know, it's
really very interesting when I listen to many of my
colleagues around the healthcare debate and the debate
around the deficit and not wanting to fund universal
healthcare with a robust public option. You don't hear
that same kind of contrast and policy debate with
regard to military spending. So I think we need to
really be honest about what is taking place there. We
need to be honest about our hard-earned tax dollars and
where we're sending these tax dollars. And certainly,
there has been corruption in Afghanistan. There's been
corruption in Iraq. We've spent 200-and-some billion
dollars in Afghanistan, over a trillion dollars in
Iraq. We're trying to pass healthcare for Americans,
for every man, woman and child here. And so, hopefully
my colleagues will begin to be objective about our
spending.
And, of course, I support and believe that our national
security is a first priority for all of us, and we have
to ensure that. But I believe that there are better
ways to ensure our national interest in our national
security interest.
And finally, let me just say, with regard to the
critics who talk about elected officials caving in and
not engaging in any debate, I think that is really very
dangerous. Again, Congress has the constitutional
responsibility to declare war. Many forget what the
basic tenets of our democracy are, and that is dissent,
debate and offering different points of views. And that
is what we are doing. And so, for those who don't
believe that our democracy should survive even during
national security debates and discussions, to me, don't
really understand what the true essence of American
democracy is, nor do they understand the Constitution.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Well, Representative Barbara Lee, I want
to thank you for being with us. The only lawmaker in
either chamber of Congress to vote against the 2001
resolution authorizing the use of force in Afghanistan,
she's also introduced legislation to prohibit funding
for another surge of troops in that war.
* Democracy Now, October 7, 2009; www.democracynow.org
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