Jim McGovern voted against the war in Iraq. He believes it was a war of choice, not necessity. There were no weapons of mass destruction. The costs have been enormous.
Over 4,400 brave American men and women have been killed in Iraq over the past 8 years, including over 80 from Massachusetts. Over 32,000 have been wounded, many so seriously that it will affect the rest of their lives. And thousands more suffer from post-traumatic stress.
The United States has borrowed nearly $750 billion – none of it paid for – to fight the war in Iraq.
Jim did vote, after the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, to authorize the use of force against Al Qaeda and those who provide them sanctuary. But he is very concerned that our mission in Afghanistan now is very different.
We are engaged in nation-building in Afghanistan. Jim McGovern believes that we should be doing some more nation-building here at home. We should be doing more to create jobs and improve our economy, rather than borrowing hundreds of billions of dollars to prop up a corrupt, inefficient Karzai government in Afghanistan.
President Obama has pledged to begin the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from Afghanistan by July, 2011. Jim McGovern has worked with Walter Jones, a Republican congressman from North Carolina, to draft legislation requiring the White House to submit a plan that outlines how they intend to meet that withdrawal goal.