Date: 2006-09-06
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

It doesnt. And what is unfortunate is people on the one hand are saying let us have this national conversation and then fingerpointing at people who raise questions about what is happening in Iraq and elsewhere in our national security policy. when any sensible person looking at what is going on would have questions. So let us really get together and have a genuine national conversation about these very important issues. Now. you mentioned. and others have mentioned. that we are coming up very shortly to the tragic fifth anniversary of the September "11 attacks on our country. and I do think it is important to take a moment to reflect again on where those attacks came from and the reaction of the international community. which you have outlined a little bit. Because we all know that those attacks were launched from Afghanistan. They were launched by al Qaeda. They were launched by Osama bin Laden as the head of al Qaeda. and they were launched from Afghanistan because the Taliban government gave al Qaeda sanctuary there in Afghanistan. When we were attacked on September 11. this country. and in fact the international community. responded. You already referred to the action taken by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. But in fact also the United Nations unanimously passed a resolution saying they were with the United States in its fight against terror and they were with us in going after al. Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. And in fact. when we went into Afghanistan. we were united as a country and the world was united behind us. You would think. given a lot of the recent talk and rhetoric out of the administration. until just a few days ago. that Osama bin Laden had kind of been forgotten. We werent talking a lot about Osama bin Laden. But now. just the other day. as we approached September 11 and the anniversary of that tragic attack. the President again raised the words of Osama bin Laden and the very real threat that Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda and their virulent form of extremist Islamic ideology poses. But I think we should ask the question. given the fact that the President has now reminded us again of where those attacks came from. what are we doing in Afghanistan and how much progress have we really made? If you look at the situation now and you look at the southern part of Afghanistan. we have seen. by all accounts. including from the testimony of the Defense Intelligence Agency. the head of that is General Maples. that you have seen a resurgence in Taliban activities in southern Afghanistan. That is the hotbed of the resistance in Afghanistan. Yet. while we are seeing that resistance grow. we have actually seen a reduction in U.S. military forces in that area. That is not the way you address a real threat. Secondly. this administration disbanded the one unit. the one unit within the Central Intelligence Agency that was specifically dedicated to targeting al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. They got rid of it. We have also seen reports today that opium production in Afghanistan is now at a record high. the highest levels ever recorded in terms of opium production. And those are funds that are able to be used by al Qaeda to help arm themselves and help promote.their ideology and help promote their efforts against the United States and others. At the same time. we learned today that Pakistan. Pakistan. has now entered into a deal with the proTaliban militia in the Waziristan portion of Pakistan. that rugged mountain area along the PakistanAfghan border. where the Taliban have been assembling and using as- a launching pad for their attacks into Afghnanistan. We have heard that Pakistan apparently is no longer going to sort of prosecute the war against al Qaeda. So if you look at the state of play today. and you ask yourself what have we done to eliminate the threat that attacked us on September 11. I would say the answer is pretty clear. We have a long way to go before we can hang up a banner of mission accomplished. And we need to redouble our efforts in Afghanistan. Unfortunately. what has happened is we have. as a result of the war in Iraq. diverted our resources and gotten ourselves bogged down in a very messy situation with a huge amount of sectarian violence. a budding civil war. civil war. whatever you want to call it. We heard from the Pentagon it is the worst situation they have seen. We have gotten bogged down there and we havent finished the job against al Qaeda. Yet. at the same time. we have actually fueled the forces that support the extremists. We have added to their allies. We have provided a great recruiting tool for them. And the biggest beneficiary of all has been Iran. The biggest beneficiary of all has been Iran. which is right there next to Iraq. They fought a long war with Iraq. During most of the 1980s Iraq and Iran were engaged in a very bitter war. But now. with Iraq in chaos. Iran is extremely well positioned and is taking advantage of the situation. They are emboldened and they are trying to expand their. influence in the region through Hezbollah and through- other proxies. So I- think as we have this national conversation. it is very important that the American people. not just looking at some of this rhetoric out there. but they really try to figure out what is going on. Because one of the biggest consequences of thei administrations mistakes. and many of them arecoming home to roost .now. is that they refuse to listen. They refuse to listen to many generals regarding the best way to prosecute the war in Iraq. They refuse to listen to the experts at the Central Intelligence Agency about the possible consequences within Iraq of taking the lid off Pandoras box and unleashing the forces between the Sunnis. the Shiias. and the Kurds. They have all the answers. the administration. We have got all the answers. Who are you ti question us? And you know what this Republican Congress said? You are right. you have got all the answers. so we are not going to ask you the tough questions. This was a blankcheck Congress. No tough questions. No accountability. And the result has been very clear: when you ignore failure. or when you reward failure. you are going to get more failure. So what we are saying is. let us have a real national conversation. Let us have a Congress that will begin to ask the hard questions. E 2145 Lets hold people accountable when they make mistakes. The finger pointing.- you have got to scratch your head. as you pointed out. We have President Bush in the White -House. We have Republicans controlling the Senate and the House. They really have no one to look around right now to blame. Yet they still are out there in the field trying to tell the American people that somehow it is the .other guys fault that we are in this mess now. It is time to hold them accountable.