Iraq, Afghanistan, and Fighting Terrorism

Like all Americans, I want to see a successful outcome in Iraq and believe that the United States should continue to show leadership in bringing stability to the country. However, we can not afford to continue our open-ended commitment of military personnel in Iraq.

The conflict in Iraq is largely a sectarian power struggle in which al-Qaida is only a minor player. The concentration on Iraq has lead to a policy that has lost sight on the broader terrorist threat entrenched in Afghanistan and other safe-havens for extremist ideology. For example, the July 2007 National Intelligence Estimate showed that al-Qaida is strengthening in Afghanistan and Northwest Pakistan, yet the vast majority of our assets are tied down in Iraq.

The simple message that I have heard from our commanders and troops is that we do not have enough people or resources on the ground to confront the threats in Afghanistan. The country is roughly the same size and population as Iraq and served as a haven for those that attacked our country on September 11, 2001. Yet despite all this, Afghanistan only has one-sixth of the troops on the ground compared to Iraq. We cannot devote adequate assets in Afghanistan and other terrorist safe-havens until with begin to draw down in Iraq.

I support a strategy in Iraq along the recommendations made by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group. This strategy would call for a responsible, phased withdrawal from Iraq over the course of a year, leaving a much smaller number of troops necessary to train Iraqi forces and confront the threat posed by al-Qaida. As our troops draw down, the United States should transfer greater responsibility to the Iraqi government and launch a major diplomatic initiative calling on the region to help Iraq address key political barriers to stability. Some of these barriers included the need to pass laws addressing the distribution of oil revenues, de-Baathification, provincial elections, and regional autonomy.

As a senior Member of the House Armed Services Committee, I will continue to work towards a policy that begins a responsible withdrawal of forces in Iraq and refocuses our efforts on the broader threat posed by al-Qaida and related terrorist organizations.