Politics & Government

Congressman Himes: To Fight Terrorism, Concentrate on Pakistan

Jim Himes says the real battle is in Pakistan, not Afghanistan.

U.S. Rep. Jim Himes said the killing of Al Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden “demonstrates that our real mission is in Pakistan.”

In a telephone interview while enroute to Washington for Congress’s return from a 2-week Easter recess, Himes told Greenwich Patch, “It turns out that bin Laden was not hiding in an Afghani cave. He was living comfortably in a house in Pakistan. It just highlights the fact that nation building in Afghanistan is distracting from the very difficult anti-terrorism work we need to do in Pakistan.”

Himes, the Democrat from Cos Cob representing Connecticut’s Fourth Congressional District, said the news of bin Laden’s assassination should be considered “a major victory with all of the pressure we have placed on Al Qaeda. It has made them adaptable but this is a strong blow and we now have to keep the pressure up.”

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He added, “Obviously this is a very happy day for most Americans, particularly for those like my constituents who had a very personal experience on 9/11. I think there’s good closure but we need to get to second part, I don’t think it changes anything strategically.”

Himes’s comments echo sentiments he voiced a week ago at a town hall meeting with area residents. He said that the U.S. should refocus its efforts in Afghanistan by withdrawing troops and maintaining two military bases there, and focus on Pakistan where many terrorists are harbored.

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Of his constituents, Himes said, “My sense is that the family members are experiencing a sense of closure, but the celebration will be muted … hopefully yesterday’s victory gives some sense of closure and justice to all of them.”

Because Congress was returning late Monday from its Easter recess, Himes said he had not yet been briefed on Sunday’s death of bin Laden. “Obviously there will be a lot of questions, questions on how operation was executed, and the very difficult question on the role of Pakistanis. I believe it will be a topic of much discussion,” he said.

The congressman also said he was anticipating increased security in Washington because of heightened security alerts imposed after the announcement of bin Laden’s death.

Himes said that the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 “profoundly affected” him. At the time, he was working with Goldman Sachs, a short distance from the World Trade Center. He said he was just arriving at his office when the attacks occurred. “The closer you were, the more your world was turned upside down,” Himes said of the aftermath.

He said he drew from his experiences as a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician during his high school years in New Jersey. Later that day, he teamed up with another volunteer whom he had just met and began gathering medical equipment and ambulances abandoned at the site. “We brought them to the Staten Island Ferry Terminal.”

Himes said, “Personally, I was profoundly affected by 911 … It was weeks before I felt calm again … It’s always been a little irritant in the back of my mind that the person that did this to us was alive and well.”

In a statement released earlier Monday, U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman of Stamford, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, said: "Nearly a decade after the attacks of 9/11, justice is done. I am deeply grateful to all those men and women whose service, struggle, and sacrifice across many years, three Administrations, and countless countries made this moment possible.

"The death of Osama bin Laden unfortunately does not mean the end of the al Qaeda network he built, the hateful ideology he helped propagate, or the threat against our homeland. Terrorists will continue to seek to murder Americans at home and abroad, and so too must our ever more determined global efforts to thwart their plots, destroy their networks, and defeat their ideology."

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Greenwich Democrat, said: “Striking down this enemy of democracy and freedom is an historic victory for our nation and marks a significant turning point in the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden orchestrated the killing of thousands of Americans including many from Connecticut and I hope his death provides their families and loved ones with some solace and closure.

"However, we must remain vigilant, vigorous and avoid complacency in the war against terror which continues since the enemies of democracy and freedom are greater than one individual."


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