Bring Home Troops in Victory

Floor Speech

(Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio. Last night, we heard President Obama's plan for withdrawing our troops from Afghanistan. While I share the President's goal of wanting to bring home our brave troops as soon and as safely as possible, I'm concerned that political considerations were given more weight in this decision than military strategy.

As a military veteran of 27 years, I understand how important it is to base decisions like this on the guidance of our commanders in the field. Our military commanders are the best military strategists in the world, and they are the ones in a position to know how many and what type of troops they need to do their mission.

When the President announced his troop surge, he included the lasting influence of Taliban among his reasons. The Taliban remains allied with al Qaeda, and both terrorist networks would rather see Afghanistan destroyed than lose their influence over the Afghan people.

Mr. Speaker, we've learned that fighting our Nation's wars from the Oval Office does not work. Let's make sure our troops come home in victory.

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