US mortar man, assigned to a front line infantry unit (faced blackened by the residue of spent rounds) fires off round after round at enemy positions…
On February 26, 2014 Rep. Rick Nolan of Minnesota asked for and was granted permission to address the United States House of Representatives for 60 seconds regarding an issue of national importance.
“Mr. Speaker and Members of the House, I rise in support of the President, the Republicans, and the Democrats in this institution and across this country who want an end to the war in Afghanistan. It has cost us trillions of dollars that we can ill-afford.”
“There has been $100 billion spent on infrastructure, yet the inspector general cannot find where the money has gone nor where the projects have been completed. There is $30 billion in the pipeline now. We need to end that”, he said.
“We need to bring all the troops home. Bring them home now. Save that money. Put it toward deficit reduction and investing in America–our roads, our bridges, our schools, our health care system. Our priorities demand it and require it”, he continued.
“Afghanistan is now the most corrupt nation in the world. Afghanistan supplies more illegal drugs to the rest of the world than all of the rest of the nations combined. It is time to end our involvement and stop this shameful waste of America’s taxpayer treasure and our patriots’ blood”, said Rep. Nolan (source: Congressional Record http://thomas.loc.gov/).