Spring Break
Boyda addresses military concerns
ReAnne Utemark
Issue date: 10/13/08 Section: News
Congresswoman Nancy Boyda did not want to talk about presidential politics during her speech, but she did speak about a major issue facing Americans in the election: the overstretching of the military. Boyda, a candidate for the second congressional district of Kansas, spoke to a crowd gathered for a lunch discussion at noon last Wednesday at the International House.
Boyda, a freshman representative and current member of the Armed Services Committee, first told the audience how she became interested in running for the House of Representatives. She said that the attitude toward the Iraq war in 2003 bothered her, including the rhetoric about exporting democracy and Americans being greeted as liberators. She thought something just didn't make sense, she was worried about invading another sovereign country. She went to a protest and spoke out.
"I was doing this because I felt like we needed to stick with the job in front of us," said Boyda, referring to the conflicts before the war in Iraq. "Iraq would be biting off more than we could chew."
She continued her speech after her election to Congress and as she learned more about limited nature of military personnel and resources. She lamented the "corner we've backed ourselves into."
Boyda mentioned the surge and discussed how that factored into her current military policy ideas. "By the grace of God, the surge has done wonderful things in Iraq," said Boyda.
She gave credit to both the surge and the Iraqi forces working with the Americans. However, she felt that it had put even more pressure on an already strained military. According to the information presented by Boyda, if another terrorist attack were to happen, her military source said they would not be interested in a draft, but they would halt troop rotation and keep men and women in the field as long as it took.
"My number one priority is not the safety and security in Iraq," said Boyda. "My number one priority is the safety and security of the United States."
Boyda, a freshman representative and current member of the Armed Services Committee, first told the audience how she became interested in running for the House of Representatives. She said that the attitude toward the Iraq war in 2003 bothered her, including the rhetoric about exporting democracy and Americans being greeted as liberators. She thought something just didn't make sense, she was worried about invading another sovereign country. She went to a protest and spoke out.
"I was doing this because I felt like we needed to stick with the job in front of us," said Boyda, referring to the conflicts before the war in Iraq. "Iraq would be biting off more than we could chew."
She continued her speech after her election to Congress and as she learned more about limited nature of military personnel and resources. She lamented the "corner we've backed ourselves into."
Boyda mentioned the surge and discussed how that factored into her current military policy ideas. "By the grace of God, the surge has done wonderful things in Iraq," said Boyda.
She gave credit to both the surge and the Iraqi forces working with the Americans. However, she felt that it had put even more pressure on an already strained military. According to the information presented by Boyda, if another terrorist attack were to happen, her military source said they would not be interested in a draft, but they would halt troop rotation and keep men and women in the field as long as it took.
"My number one priority is not the safety and security in Iraq," said Boyda. "My number one priority is the safety and security of the United States."
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