Congresswoman Barbara Lee tried to warn people about the impacts of war in Afghanistan by her vote and speech in US Parliament.

Three days after the September 11 attacks, the California Democrat stood on the House floor and implored her colleagues to vote against a resolution that would give President George W. Bush a sweeping, open-ended authorisation to use military force.

She was the only politician to vote no. If only Governments and others had listened to her, things in Afghanistan could be different and the world could be different.

See her speech via the link. Personally, I think she was right.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOs0OdUPUPY

Hi Nathan,

If only.

It's easy for us to criticize now but at that time
9/11 was a very emotional time for Americans and
politicians especially felt that action was required.
I believe that they went in with all good intentions
to make a difference against terrorism. The rest as
they say is history.

Afghanistan is a tragedy. There is no happy ending.
What the future holds? Who knows. We shall have to wait
and see. I feel so sorry for the Afghan people. I don't
have much faith in the Taliban. But the West had no other
alternative but to leave.

Foxy,

She was right. That's the issue at hand. I mean how many people on this website are trying to get people to change their position and not simply support the status quo?

You're one of those people aren't you? That's the impression I've got and I understand it's not easy.

Yes it was easy at the time to simply vote 'yes' to go to war in Afghanistan, but Congresswoman Barbara Lee took a bold move, voted 'no' and faced a lot of criticism and threats in terms of her move at the time.

We need more brave people out there like Barbara Lee, modern versions of Martin Luther King. That is why she is now getting a lot of media coverage.

I only wish she would stand for President. She would do a much better job than Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden combined. Why? Because she actually stands for something and her interviews I've seen online have been well articulated.

Good Morning Nathan,

Unfortunately in politics very few brave voices are listened
to unless they are in leadership or positions of power
and influence. Still as you rightly point out we need those
brave voices so badly.

Had the US not entered this war, there'd be no hundreds of thousands of refugees infiltrating the West. The rest will be history !

We would not be getting sympathetic refugees to democratic values but we would be getting more 911 terrorists infiltrating our society. The USA went into Afganistan not to nation build or colonise but to eradicate terrorists threatening them. Should we just allow terrorists to mass murder 3,000+ of our most able citizens without eradicating the continuing threat? Ask if those seeking refugee status prefer the democratic values they experienced over the last 20 years under USA + management or under the Taliban. Their panic says it all!