GOP lawmaker: Afghan war a ‘graveyard of empires’

Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) on Tuesday called on Congress to reallocate funding for the war in Afghanistan to domestic spending instead as his party rolled out its annual budget.

House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-Ga.) unveiled a fiscal 2016 budget that would provide $90 billion in additional war funding, which is nearly twice as much as the $51 billion in President Obama’s budget proposal. 

{mosads}Jones cited an article in the New York Times over the weekend finding that CIA money found its way into Al Qaeda’s hands. And for years, the CIA had been delivering millions of dollars’ worth of cash to the Afghan presidential palace in Kabul.

“This is only one example of the waste, fraud and abuse in Afghanistan,” Jones said in a House floor speech. “Congress owes the American people and the soldiers a debate to end this failed policy.” 

Instead, Jones argued, the billions of dollars used toward the war in Afghanistan could be reallocated in the U.S. for domestic programs like helping veterans and improving aged infrastructure. 

“After over $685 billion taxpayers’ dollars, blood and limbs lost in Afghanistan, it is time to stop the waste, fraud and abuse of American taxpayer money,” Jones said. “Why are we spending this kind of money in Afghanistan that is abused and wasted and used to kill American soldiers? I do not understand it.”

“Afghanistan is an absolute waste of taxpayers’ money. It is a true graveyard of empires,” Jones said.