over seven years ago, the united states for cid al qaeda in the taliban with broad international support. we did not go by choice. we went because of necessity. i am aware that there are still some who would question or even justify the offence of 9/11, but let us be clear. al qaeda killed nearly 3,000 people on that day. of the victims for innocent men, women and children from america and many other nations who had done nothing to harm anybody. and yet, al qaeda chose to ruthlessly murdered these people, claimed credit for the attack, and even now states their determination to kill on a massive scale. they have affiliate's in many countries and are trying to expand their reach. these are not opinions to be debated. these are facts to be dealt with. make the mistake, we do not want to keep our troops in afghanistan. we see no military-- we seek no military bases there. it is agonizing for america to lose our young men and women. it is costly and politically difficult to continue this conflict. we would gladly bring every single one of our troops home if we could be confident that there w