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Roe: It’s time for serious talk on Afghanistan

By Brad Hicks
Press Staff Writer
bhicks@johnsoncitypress.com

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U.S. Rep. Phil Roe said it is time to have a serious discussion about what the nation’s goals are in Afghanistan.

Roe, R-1st, met with the Johnson City Press Editorial Board Monday afternoon to discuss everything from America’s presence in Afghanistan to “cap and trade” legislation to health care reform.

The discussion of Afghanistan needs to address what the nation’s mission is there and when victory will be declared in the war, Roe said. He said he recently sat down with several colleagues and discussed the war in Afghanistan, where several options were brought up as to where America proceeds from this point. Roe said these include to continue with what is currently being done, send in special operations personnel to seek out terrorists and develop the Afghani army, or redevelop the country using the model used in Iraq.

Roe, however, said the latter may prove difficult as he referred to the country as “medieval” in comparison to Iraq as a “20th century country.” He said conditions there are harsh, with average life expectancy around age 44 and said around half of Afghanistan’s 32 million inhabitants live on around $1 per day.

He said true success in Afghanistan will not likely come quickly.

“I believe unless we’re willing to make a commitment to stay there for decades, I’m not sure how you can be successful,” he said. “And why do I say that? Well, the whole (gross domestic product) of the country is 20 percent of what it’s taking us to put into the military right now. They need basic infrastructure — roads, water, sewer, schools, education. Those take a long time to build.”

Roe said the argument made for not pulling troops now is that Afghanistan would be left open to terrorism, but he said the United States military is now receiving help from Pakistan in combating the Taliban.

“So our commitment, if it’s going to be successful, it’s probably going to have to be decades,” he said. “Militarily will we win? Absolutely, there’s no question in my mind about that. We have the troops, the training, there’s no doubt we’ll win the battle. But will you win the war, and the war is are you into nation-building?”

Roe said he is unsure if any legislation relating to healthcare will be passed this year but said he does not believe the healthcare reform bill has the necessary number of votes to pass in the House of Representatives. He said if that were the case, the bill would likely be brought to the floor soon.

“If you look at the how the polling around the country has gone, it’s shifting against this bill right here,” he said.

Recently, Roe said he and his staff met with both Democratic and Republican “think tanks” and formulated several principles as to what healthcare should look like. These include someone not losing their insurance due to job loss, the removal of “state lines” to allow for health insurance competition and formation of associate health plans, everyone paying something to have health coverage, transparency of health plans so people know what they’re buying, and tort reform to help gain meaningful control of costs.

Roe said he and several other legislators seeking to meet with President Obama to discuss the legislation have not heard from the president’s office. He also said that despite what the president has previously stated, he does not believe the legislation would be budget neutral.

It may also be next year before the Senate votes on the proposed “Cap and Trade” bill, which is aimed at limiting carbon emission amounts, Roe said. The bill previously passed the House by a vote of 219-212.

Roe referred to the bill as a “job killer” and said it could actually make world pollution worse unless the countries of India and China put similar limits in place. He said the bill aims to cap carbon dioxide levels at their 2005 levels and reduce the 2005 levels by around 80 percent by 2050 and 17 percent by 2020.

While Roe said that wind and solar power should be utilized, he said the only way to accomplish items outlined in the “cap and trade” legislation would be by taking a balanced approach and implementing the use of more nuclear power.