ContactsNewark Office Camden Office Washington, DC 
|
Wars in Iraq and AfghanistanIraq Senator Lautenberg was an early and outspoken critic of the war in Iraq, and was one of the first Senators to call for–and vote in support of–a timetable for the phased redeployment of United States forces out of Iraq. A veteran himself, Senator Lautenberg understands the toll this war is taking on our military men and women and their families, and believes we must get our troops home responsibly and soon. Senator Lautenberg has also consistently pressed the Bush Administration to get Iraqis to assume the political and financial responsibility for securing and rebuilding their own country. We cannot afford to spend $10 billion a month in Iraq, while Afghanistan and other fronts on the war against terrorists deteriorate and while U.S. infrastructure crumbles and other domestic needs go unmet. He has also pushed for investigations into intelligence failures that led the Bush Administration to take us to war and the millions upon millions of taxpayer dollars on no-bid contracts to Halliburton revealed to be rife with waste, fraud and abuse. Afghanistan Senator Lautenberg knows that the central front in the war against terrorism is the Afghanistan region, not Iraq. It was a major mistake by the Bush Administration to shift focus and resources away from that region. The 9/11 Commission made it clear that it was in Afghanistan that terrorists trained for the 9/11 attack–and it is the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan where experts believe Osama bin Laden continues to roam free today. The deterioration of conditions in Afghanistan in recent years has unacceptably allowed terror havens to strengthen, particularly on the border region. Therefore, he supports the views of many experts and generals that we must shift our focus and resources back to Afghanistan. We must redouble our efforts to capture bin Laden and his allies, and rid the region of terrorist havens. Additionally, Senator Lautenberg believes the U.S. government must be held accountable for taxpayer funds heading overseas to help rebuild Afghanistan. To ensure that the mistakes of no-bid Halliburton contracts in Iraq were not repeated in Afghanistan, Senator Lautenberg wrote the law in early 2008 creating a Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) to oversee the $20+ billion being spent on reconstruction and other efforts in Afghanistan.
|
 |