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Rep. Garcia: “War is an ugly thing but not the ugliest of things…”

by •

Congressman Mike Garcia [mikegarcia.house.gov]
By Mike Garica

Like many Americans, I am heartbroken seeing what is happening in Afghanistan. We are more vulnerable today than we were on September 10, 2001.

I couldn’t imagine a country whose commander-in-chief doesn’t care enough about his troops and civilians to bring them home safely and doesn’t even know how many Americans are still behind enemy lines in Afghanistan. I couldn’t imagine a country whose commander-in-chief lies to his own people about what is going on just for political reasons.

I couldn’t imagine a country with a commander-in-chief who puts $80 billion of equipment in the hands of our enemies. I couldn’t imagine a commander-in-chief who doesn’t have the courage to fight and make sure that all Americans and allies come home safely when their lives are truly on the line.

Unfortunately, we don’t have to imagine this – it is literally our reality right now.

Real warriors don’t want to go to war – that’s the last thing we want. I didn’t want to go to war, and when I was in war, I didn’t want to be in war. Real leaders don’t want to send their warriors into harm’s way, but they realize that sometimes it’s necessary to fight. Sometimes we need to stand up for our troops, our citizens and our allies with whatever action is necessary until they are all home safely.

As I think about the gross negligence of this President, I am reminded of a quote by John Stuart Mill, where he stated, ‘War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things: the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth a war is much worse… A man who has nothing which he is willing to fight for, nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety, is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.’

Today, President Biden is surrounded by men and women who are better than him.

To my brothers and sisters who have served in the Global War on Terror for the last 20 years, and especially those in Afghanistan: don’t let this incompetence and cowardice of the President detract, degrade or diminish the massive successes that we have achieved. You saved thousands of lives worldwide. God favors you, and your nation is eternally grateful.

I’ll continue to do everything I can from an official capacity, and I am praying for the Americans and our Afghan allies who are still stranded and working to escape Taliban rule.

Watch the full video at: https://fb.watch/7Bpx3wqcY-/

About the author: Mike Garcia is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California’s 25th district, which encompasses the cities of Palmdale, Lancaster, Santa Clarita, Simi Valley, and the northern part of the San Fernando Valley.

Filed Under: Opinion

59 comments for "Rep. Garcia: “War is an ugly thing but not the ugliest of things…”"

  1. Matt:

    I could never imagine a draft dodger would become Commander in Chief.
    I could never imagine a Commander in Chief denouncing a War Hero after he died
    I could never imagine a Commander in Chief taking pains to accuse the police of cowardice after defending the Capitol.
    I could never imagine you supporting this person as a Veteran sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States.
    I could never imagine you supporting such actions as a member of Congress.
    You should be ashamed.

      • But can u imagine a President who is so dumb that caused 13 lost American lives in Afghanistan whose son is accused of taking money from national leaders who himself said 10 percent for the Big Guy( apparently Dumb Joe) a declared Catholic who openly supports Planned Parenthood, an Unborn KILLING FIELDS!!!

        • I try to hold back because I understand Republicans are in a really desperate situation and trying to find ANYTHING that they can try to campaign on. But do you REALLY think “the democrat lost thirteen guys getting us out of the meaningless war that us republicans got us into” is going to be effective?

          • The Repubes would rather that 13 soldiers died one at a time as they would if we stayed there another couple years.

            But, heck, Repubes don’t know math. They raised the debt in 2017 and now don’t want to pay for it by raising the debt ceiling.

  2. Dear Mike. As an proud lifelong Republican, I thought your views we’re nothing more then Democratic bashing and somewhat immature.. As a Republican who actually voted for you. I feel you are better then that. Frank Eugene

  3. Thanks for your service Mike. Flying 30+ missions in Iran at great risk of your own life shows your dedication to our Country and ideals. I wish the people in this comments section had done anything in the service of their Country. Please keep up the good work and know there are responsible, if silent, people at your back.

    • Garcia voted on the following>

      -No on the 2nd impeachment

      -Yes on overturning a CERTIFIED, yes CERTIFIED election right after Trump’s insurrectionists rioted

      -No on investigationg the 1/6 Trump Insurrection.

      NO. Garcia is not a patriotic American. He is a traitor and you are misguided and have poor judgement.

      You were simply enchanted by his pilot’s license. It’s not a skill set match for a legislator as we’ve seen.

      And, what are those ideals he is dedicated to, Alan, given how he voted on those important items?

    • Yeah I beat the soviet union and didn’t follow it up by trying to overthrow the legitimate government of the United States. I got nothin’ for traitor Mike and his fellow insurrectionists. Wise up Aman.

  4. No matter how we arranged our departure from Vietn, no wait, Afghanistan, it was going to be a mess.

    The Taliban and/or Isis would have responded appropriately however we did it. Appropriately for them that is.

    They weren’t going to allow an organized, peaceful exit now were they?

    This is just the Republicans being Republicans. Hypocrisy is a feature of their party.

  5. So Mike Garcia ignores and twists the facts. Biden didn’t leave weapons for the Taliban; he left them for the Afghan army which turned tail and ran. And what of the so called Afghan president? He stole a few million of our dollars and high tailed it out of the so called country of Afghanistan which Biden pointed out rightly is a collection of tribes, not a country.
    Biden did the best thing possible. There was no easy non violent way to leave the area of Afghanistan. Time to focus on medical care for all in the USA instead of war.

  6. I feel like a yutz for making fun of Joe at this time. No more till things get better.

    • If only the “great patriots” of the GOP would similarly honor the fallen instead of playing every death for political purpose.

      Heck, if they would just be honest in their efforts it would be less of a disgrace.

  7. Dear God, AVTimes.

    Get a new photo of Garcia. That chit-eating grin is getting old now that we know why he’s featuring it. His voting record.

    • He looks like scrap with stubble and unkempt hair. He has been running alot.

      Always a pleasure, William

      • Figures. He posed in front of a flag with only 11 stars, the same number of states that seceded from the Union.

        THERE ARE NO COINCIDENCES.

        TRUST ME.

  8. Quick history refresher:

    Alexander conquered the known world 2300+ years ago and was like a god to his army. When he got to Afghanistan (Bactria) and fought the Pashtuns, his men revolted and went home. The world’s greatest military power was defeated.

    The British invaded Afghanistan in 1839. In 1842 they sent 16,000 troops to Kabul to fight the Pashtuns. Only one Englishman survived to tell the tale of the massacre. Again, the world’s greatest military power was defeated.

    In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded. After bleeding there for 10 years, they ran home with tail between their legs and their empire fell apart. The Soviets were pretty tough and ruthless, but…………..

    And after bleeding and failed nation building in Vietnam, GW Bush decided to nation build in Afghanistan after 9/11. Stooopidest president in our lifetime. Couldn’t even manage a baseball team. He did most of this damage to our country.

    I saw a great cartoon where chairmen of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Milley fell asleep reading a book on critical race theory and white rage while the Taliban quietly stole the farm and $86 billion of equipment. SMH. Sad for our country.

    • Back in Nixon’s day, there was a cartoon captioned “The Nixon Monument”.

      It was a photo of onlookers staring into a huge black hole.

      Well, they could revive that and make it the Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Bush, Bush, Trump monument.

      Over and over they’ve left a mess for the next guy. Funny that Americans didn’t want a woman to clean up a mess. They would curse her success.

      Around the same time, there was a cartoon captioned “What did New York City do with King Kong’s body?”. The picture was a guy eating a burger in a sleazy diner…next to the monument, I guess.

      • Google says they returned it to Skull Island, but I think they sold it to Korean butcher shops.

        Yeah, I know, racist, racist, racist. I’m appropriately ashamed.

        • I’m sending you to Benihana chop chop.

          Or, do you wanna go to Chick filet?

          Or, how ’bout “The Place for Ribs”? Yours.

          Then again, there’s a diner in the Valley named after you…Trumpist#1 kinda like Tom’s #26.

          Or to be merciful, any place on the blvd. It won’t be there by the time you show up.

          All seriousness aside. Are you Prime? Choice? Select? or Alpo?

  9. To all those firearms enthusiasts that can’t find 9 mm and 5.56 mm ammo: I hear the Taliban have a boatload for sale.

  10. Gonna have to step up your game Garcia. The AV’s other congressman, Kevin McCarthy, was just clocked during a tryout on Fox telling five WHOPPING lies in a seven minute interview. That’s the kind of standards you are going to have to meet to get that right wing pundit job you crave.

    • I really believe that most career politicians are lying sacks of Trump. The founders and framers were not career politicians.

      Churchill said something like: “Democracy is the worst possible system. Except for everything else.”

      • You really need to learn the meaning of relativity.

        Then you will be able to recognize the difference between things like:

        “The economy added a million jobs…” well, no, it was 937,000.

        “This is the greatest jobs report in a single month ever!” well, no, in fact there were six months that were better just last year.

        or

        “Oil has hit an all time high!” well, no, in fact the price of oil was actually TWICE as high within your lifetime, and higher than it is now just in the time you have been in congress.

        “Inflation is at record breaking levels!” well, no, in fact once again inflation has been twice this high in your lifetime, and higher than it is now JUST LAST YEAR.

        Okay, that was a trick…those last two WHOPPING falsehoods are very similar…and McCarthy dropped BOTH of them in just a seven minute interview on Fox…where of course they are playing it over and over without bothering to correct his “alternative facts” for their alternative universe viewers.

        • I can’t remember a time when McCarthy wasn’t outmaneuvered by Nancy. He’s putty in Pelosi’s hands. I don’t like her but she’s pretty slick, I must say.

          • You disrespect McCarthy’s level of loyalty. He has “no hands but Trump’s hands, you can’t touch this” tattooed in places you would think only his wife would see.

  11. Pay attention stupid…we’ve evacuated 82,000 in three days…your bald faced lie about “leaving men behind” is recognized Trumpist propaganda you insurrectionist swine.

    • not sure if the comment I just made will get blocked because I called Garcia $tupid, a bald faced liar, or an insurrectionist swine…but I stand by all three.

      • how’s that? a suicide bomber blows themselves up and gets a few victims…what does that have to do with Garcia’s patently false accusations, or my calling him out as the lying insurrectionist swine that he is?

        • Facepalm

          This comment only took minutes to age like sour milk.

          A few?
          You guys aren’t even worth anybodies time.

          • Compared to the number of casualties in the TWENTY YEAR WAR yes it was, in fact, a few. You and your insurrectionist swine pals had no way to get out any better, and now you are picking at nits because that’s all that’s left you after your insurrection failed.

            You’re just a dim voice on a local news site, so not worth much time, but leaders of the attempt to overthrow the legitimate government of the United States like Mike Garcia are worth as much as it takes to see them remover from office and incarcerated.

          • Little hot under the collar aren’t we Tim…

            Like a rabid dog trapped in a corner.

            It’s understandable with everything that’s been going on this last week or so.

          • lol…do you live in such a snowflake world that you see “rabid dogs” every time someone calls you out for being ridiculous, or do you save that just for me?

          • For those who are not just trolls like BeeCee and have an interest in thinking about this…

            The Afghan war had, depending on which estimate you go with, between a hundred and fifty thousand and a quarter million casualties. With that on mind, a terrorist bombing getting a couple hundred to mark the end is just a tiny droplet in the sea of blood.

            Since my service in the military involved standing ready to directly kill tens of millions and quite likely turn everyone else into collateral damage I just cannot feel the outrage over this…I have trouble working up any real strong feelings for the entire war.

      • That’s my favorite, LMAO. How sick and stupid are people like her that take it that seriously? Terminal Trump Derangement Syndrome and delirium at work. Trump hadn’t even taken office yet and she made a humiliating spectacle of herself. I bet she couldn’t even logically tell you why. She obviously listens to XiNN and can’t think for herself.

        That’s very productive behavior, lol. Are you guys proud of her ridiculousness? Our side loved it and we hold it up for derision and mockery.

      • Correct!
        She was prescient of the greatest economy to ever flourish,
        The greatest number of Americans working including POC,
        She was prescient of a time when our leader lead through strength!
        And our enemies feared doing us wrong…

        Although she doesn’t support these achievements, she supports Americans bogged down by bureaucracy and welfare.

        Noooooooooooooooo!

        • LOL…you are a pretty good Trump impersonator…taking credit (actually giving it to him, which is gross, you should take it for yourself at least) for things he had nothing to do with.

          “The most people working”…sure. Ever noticed a little thing called POPULATION GROWTH? Are you honestly thinking that “hey there were more people working in 2017 than there were in 1985 means the economy was better? Get serious. It’s a natural outcome of there being twice as many people.

          It’s like when Trump crows about having “gotten the most votes of any Republican candidate”…in the election with the biggest turnout ever, by far; turnout that happened despite his efforts to suppress the vote, and in which he came in a distant loser.

  13. Hiya Mike,

    Next time you are at Mar a Lago visiting your one constituent maybe you should ask him why his administration negotiated with the Taliban as if they were the rightful government of Afghanistan, excluding the actual government from those talks.

    signed,

    person who lives in the district that you have abandoned to represent Trump

  14. Another spewing of bullschnit, projection, and deflection by a lying sack of trump.

    Enjoy your brief stay, Garcia… You won’t be staying.

    • Garcia is a patriot and will continue to serve as this district is now RED, NANNY NANNY NANNY!!!

      • lol…you say this as if this “this district is now red” is some earth shattering new development.

        This district was ALWAYS red; a gerrymandered safe district that the GOP believed they wouldn’t even have to defend. That grip has slipped, and slipped, and slipped, for years, through GOP negligence and the overall demonstrations of endless incompetence in the GOP candidates and administrations. To the point where however briefly the truly EPIC bungling of Trump gave us a democrat rep that had to be taken down by Republican shenanigans.

        That resulted in Mikey the insurrectionist, and if you watch him I think it becomes obvious that he has no intentions about even really trying to get reelected; which is probably a lost cause for him anyway. He is vying with Marjorie Taylor Green and the other really mind blowing nutbags to parley a short congressional career into a gig on one of the nutjob propaganda networks.

        Rat running over the rail and off the sinking GOP ship.

          • Ask Lying Sack of Trump (Trumpist) .

            Mr. Trumpist wrote NANNY 3 times in a row.

            Maybe, just maybe, he is in need of a nanny for himself. A cry for help no doubt.

            I could use one later today, in the late evening after the kids are asleep.

    • He has no intention of staying I don’t think. He is all about building his profile with the hard core Trumpist mad dog base. I think he’s obviously angling for a position as a pundit with one of the right wing propaganda outlets.

      • “Trumpist mad dog”. I like it. Can I steal it? Woof!

        Moving on to other nonsense, saying the word pundit is funny. Puuuundiiit.