Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Jane Harman (D-Venice), chair of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing and Terrorism Risk Assessment, issued this statement on her vote on the supplemental.

"“Inspire” is part of a very sophisticated public relations campaign for inducing and training individuals to carry out acts of violence against US and Western targets. The summer edition of the magazine provides instructions for “building a bomb in Mom’s kitchen.” It contains a column by fugitive Yemeni-American Sheikh Anwar al-Awlaki, an interview with the leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (Abu Basir al Wahishi), and various practical lessons on topics like sending encrypted messages.
"I believe the emergence of this type of document increases the chances that we will see a domestic improvised explosive device or suicide attack along the lines of the Times Square bomber very soon. And this time, he or she – perhaps blond-haired and blue-eyed – might assemble the bomb correctly. For al Qaeda, this publication need only inspire a few individuals to achieve success. Despite impressive work by law enforcement and intelligence officials to prevent experienced and capable explosives trainers and planners from training new recruits, I fear the odds are against us.

"This is the context in which we operate as the House considers the supplemental for Afghanistan. Six months ago, I was not persuaded that inserting 30,000 US troops into southern and eastern Afghanistan would enhance our chance of preventing another attack by al Qaeda against the US. After careful review, I still do not believe that expanding our military footprint is the answer.

"When President Obama announced his new strategy for Pakistan and Afghanistan in December, I applauded its regional approach and the offer of a strategic partnership to the Pakistanis – provided they abandon their ambiguous relationship with extremist groups, including al Qaeda, the Haqqani network and Lashkar-e-Taiba.

"The terror threat to our country is not diminishing, but it stems primarily from places where al Qaeda and the more militant Taliban groups are located and expanding their networks: places like Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and the Mahgreb.

"I applaud the aggressive action by this Administration to capture or kill key operatives in these countries while we help their governments become more stable and capable of protecting their populations.

"But recent history offers lessons. Congress was virtually unanimous in passing the Authorization to Use Military Force against those who attacked us on 9/11. The prior Administration used this authority and, in short order, removed al Qaeda and the Taliban from Afghanistan.

"But then the focus shifted to Iraq. While the war phase in Iraq was swift and decisive – Saddam was toppled – the post-war period was poorly planned, sapped our resources, and diverted our forces from completing the Afghanistan mission.

"Almost a decade later we are still mired in Afghanistan – now the longest war in American history. Our strategy is to clear, hold, build and transfer control, but rampant corruption – including reports of efforts by Karzai officials to impede bribery probes – remains a huge problem.

"We have no reliable metrics to measure the training of Afghan troops and police, the key to transferring control. And the costs are staggering: $100 billion per year for the troops alone, plus non-military aid. In my view, we are long past the time when we can call this spending an “emergency.” Under the pay-go rules, it should be on budget and offset by other budget cuts.

"Although our diplomatic and development effort in Afghanistan needs to continue for the long-term, to protect our country from imminent threat I believe more of our short-term focus and resources must be concentrated on countries like Pakistan and Yemen – and on the growing incidence of homegrown terrorism.

"It is far more likely that those who are hoping to attack us – or inciting attacks against us – will have been trained in those countries, or inspired by the rants of Sheikh al-Awlaki. DOD Secretary Robert Gates recently wrote that “dealing with such fractured or failing states is, in many ways, the main security challenge of our time.”

"Thus, while I have the highest respect for David Petraeus and strongly support his confirmation as Com-ISAF, my vote today signals my belief that there are higher regional priorities than the Afghanistan mission."