Looking for Trouble

McDermott says he will vote against more U.S. troops in Afghanistan

Seattle Congressman Jim McDermott said today that he is against expanding the war in Afghanistan. This afternoon he sent out a fundraising email that made his position clear.

In the email, McDermott said, “Last week the President outlined the administration’s policy about the war in Afghanistan.

“I appreciate the time he took to carefully study all of our country’s options and inform our citizens of his plan.

“But at the end of the day, he simply did not convince me that escalating our country’s involvement in the War in Afghanistan is in our national interest…

“There is support in Congress to press for a vote on funding for new troops prior to sending them.

“I support the idea of a congressional vote. When that vote happens, I will vote against expanding a needless war and funding more troops.”

McDermott said he couldn’t support Obama’s troop surge because our country faces no immediate threat from Afghanistan and committing more troops to combat is not in our national interest.

He said: “We should be withdrawing troops from combat, not sending more of them into a conflict that the military cannot solve. At the end of the day, we will wind up with more people, both civilian and military, killed.”

On Dec. 2, right after Obama announced his Afghan surge, McDermott issued the following statement:

“The President’s speech tonight did not convince me that his policy is worth supporting. Last week, I attended a memorial service for seven servicemen from the same striker brigade from Fort Lewis who were killed on the same day in Afghanistan. I will not vote to send another troop to Afghanistan until I’m convinced that this strategy will succeed.

“No matter how many troops we commit, the United States cannot bring about the change necessary to stabilize Afghanistan. This responsibility ultimately falls on the Afghani government and its people, and no outsider can force this change to occur.

“Not only is this war costly in human terms, but it is bleeding our ability to provide for our own people and construct economic recovery and security at home.

“The Bush administration made a fatal mistake when it led us into Iraq and away from finishing the task in Afghanistan, and we have been paying the price ever since. I fear that we are asking our troops to fix a problem of our own making that the military cannot solve alone.”

In the fundraising email today, McDermott said, “Our country’s foreign policy toward the war in Afghanistan is another in a long list of difficult issues that Republicans will use in next year’s mid-term elections. They will also use our support of Health Care Reform and the much-needed jobs and stimulus programs in a desperate attempt to take over the Congress.

“Those of us who are outspoken advocates of progressive issues will be among their prime targets. But we cannot back down on our issues. Instead, all of us need to be ready to fight them next year.”