U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern: American people deserve the truth on Afghanistan
Washington, DC,
February 8, 2012
Tags:
Homeland Security
M. Speaker, Congress and the American people need to hear the truth about Afghanistan. It is impossible for us to make thoughtful, rational decisions on policy if we do not receive straight accurate information about the situation on the ground. And we have no right to keep our brave servicemen and women in harm's way, day after day, week after week, based on a steady diet of rosy statements that tell us everything is going well, progress is being made, conditions are improving, and victory is at hand. On January 18th, I had the privilege of sitting down with U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Davis for a special briefing on his assessment of the situation on the ground in Afghanistan. He had recently submitted reports, in both classified and unclassified versions, to his superiors at the Pentagon. I was joined at that briefing by my colleagues Congressman Walter Jones and John Garamendi, and we were not only impressed with Lt. Col. Davis's character, but the information and analysis he shared with us. Simply put, the situation in Afghanistan does not reflect the optimistic statements we repeatedly hear from high military officials and commanders on a regular basis. This week, a great deal of what Lt. Col. Davis told us has appeared in the media, in an article he wrote for the Armed Forces Journal, the nation's oldest independent military magazine, and in the New York Times. Lt. Col. Davis talks about the difficulties of training the Afghan police and military, the challenges facing our own troops to establish sustainable security zones, the rampant corruption, and the great discrepancy between the military's positive public statements and the classified material that contradicts such claims. The briefing with Danny Davis comes close on the heels of a number of articles that appeared towards the end of last year about the more pessimistic conclusions found in the most recent National Intelligence Estimate on Afghanistan. According to the press, the current NIE on Afghanistan recognizes that U.S. policy has not achieved the objectives outlined by the President - that instead it cast doubt on official assertions of progress made by the U.S. government and military leaders. No one likes to hear bad news, M. Speaker, but we do need to hear the unvarnished truth. We need accurate information in order to get a genuine understanding of what the situation is like on the ground in Afghanistan. We need to know the very real challenges faced by our troops and our diplomatic, development and humanitarian workers every day. As Lt. Col. Davis asserts, the amount of unclassified information available to the American public, the media and public officials continues to shrink. Ironically, one week before being briefed by Davis, Congressman Walter Jones and I sent a letter on January 12th to the President asking him to declassify and release the 2011 NIE on Afghanistan. We are still waiting for a response to that request. M. Speaker, the U.S. has spent hundreds of billions of dollars on military operations in Afghanistan. Over 5,500 Americans were wounded or killed in Afghanistan last year alone. Over the course of a decade, tens of thousands have come home. Many will carry for a lifetime the unseen scars of post-traumatic stress or traumatic brain injury. Like soldiers everywhere, they face a callous and unsympathetic battlefield. They do what is expected of them, and they do it with courage and determination. As my colleagues know, the majority of Americans want a safe and orderly withdrawal from Afghanistan as quickly as possible. I want every single one of our troops home and reunited with their families and loved ones. I want them to be able to leave safely and in a manner that generates confidence in what the next day will bring for Afghanistan and the region. On February 1st, the Administration announced that it will end U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan at the end of next year. This is welcome news. To ensure that timeline is met - and to ensure that our policies and priorities pave the way for a successful transition - we need to know now what the real conditions on the ground are. We can only do that with a clear-eyed, hard-eyed assessment of what's going on in Afghanistan. An unclassified version of Lt. Col. Davis's report can be found at www.afghanreport.com. I encourage all my House colleagues to read it. I encourage them to meet with Lt. Col. Davis for a briefing. I urge my House colleagues to ask the President to declassify the 2011 NIE on Afghanistan. And I ask the Pentagon public affairs office to stop stalling and formally approve the release of Lt. Col. Danny Davis's unclassified report. America needs and deserves the truth. Insert into the Record:
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