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Defense
As a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and the Vice Chairman of the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade as well as Co-Chair of the Democratic Study Group on National Security, I am particularly well positioned as a leader in Congress on the issue of the Global War on Terror and it’s nexus with the War in Afghanistan. Let me state at the outset that with the combat troop withdrawal from Iraq, I am committed to ending the war in Afghanistan as soon as possible. Winning in Afghanistan will require some of the same mix of military and political policies that helped stabilize Iraq, focusing combat against hard-core militants while opening a dialogue with the more moderate. With our support, the Iraqis have already achieved great strides. They have held free and open elections, developed a constitution, created a permanent government and each day the Iraqi military and police forces become more capable of protecting their own country. Likewise, we can achieve similar results in Afghanistan by supporting, providing additional training and eventually shifting the burden of fighting from U.S and international forces to the multiethnic Afghan National Army. America must only commit our young men and women into battle when all other means are exhausted and only against those who attack us or pose an immediate threat to the safety of our nation.
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