The only member of Congress to reject invading Afghanistan in 2001 said she almost wishes she had be

[KG]

The only member of Congress to reject invading Afghanistan in 2001 said she almost wishes she had been wrong about her lone vote


https://www.yahoo.com/news/only-member-congress-reject-invading-220338448.html

Rep. Barbara Lee had only been in Congress three years when the September 11, 2001, attacks changed the world forever.

In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, Lee delivered a stirring speech on the House floor, urging her colleagues to think twice before rushing into war.

"Our country is in a state of mourning," she said in 2001. "Some of us must say, 'Let's step back for a moment. Let's just pause, just for a minute, and think through the implications of our actions today, so that this does not spiral out of control.'"

But when the vote was taken, just three days after the towers fell, Lee found herself alone. The House voted 420-1 to approve the Authorization for Use of Military Force which gave the president authority to use all "necessary and appropriate force" in combating and targeting anyone involved with the terrorist attacks.

The almost unanimous vote paved the way for the 20-year "Forever Wars" - Lee's name for America's involvement in the Middle East for the past two decades.

[UpInArms]

1. I always said

Barbara Lee speaks for me.

[KG]

2. word.

some of us were here for that.

[Journeyman]

4. There was a time when we were referred to as the '10 Percenters' . . .

that small number of people who opposed the rapid and irrational slip into "war footing" and the consequent debacle of the 'Forever Wars.'

Who but us would believe that, 20 years on, we'd now be in the majority and the folly of those days would be plain for all to see.

[David__77]

3. There were bumper stickers that said that.

It was a good message.

[tetedur]

5. What she did was brave indeed. Two senators voted against the Gulf of Tonkin

Resolution which gave Johnson authority to use necessary and appropriate force to stop the spread of Communism which of course meant Vietnam.