She was the only one courageous to stand in Congress against the brutal, dirty invasion of Afghanistan. For years before that the only one who continually faced down the lunatics who have raved against and agitated to violently overthrow the Cuban people's overthrow of the bloody, filthy, Mafia-friendly butcher, Fulgencio Batista in Cuba. She has continually been harassed, threatened, terrorized from the very first and always held totally firm and solid in her beliefs, even as the very lonely one. She has always quietly, seriously held her own. Alone, often.
I couldn't respect her more. It's good she didn't wait as long as Diane Feinstein. She still has time left to become effective in new ways.
From the Los Angeles Times:
Op-Ed: Three days after 9/11, I was the lone vote in Congress against war
By Barbara Leer
Sept. 13, 2021 3 AM PT
On Sept. 14, 2001, Congress took up a short bill, the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force, which in 60 words gave the president the power to use all “necessary and appropriate force” against virtually anyone, anywhere, at any time.
Three days earlier, at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and in a field near Shanksville, Penn., the United States had endured unimaginable tragedy. Thousands of families grieved the loss of loved ones — the entire country was in a state of mourning and outrage.
My vote against the 2001 military force authorization remains the most difficult vote I’ve cast in my career in Congress. But I knew the last thing the country needed was to rush into war after 9/11, or ever, without proper deliberation by the people — represented by Congress — as the Constitution intended.
My father was a retired Army lieutenant colonel who fought in World War II and Korea. He was the first person who called me after that lonely vote. He reminded me that we should never send our troops into harm’s way without a clear plan, objective and exit strategy. Instead, we were asked to approve an authorization that gave the executive branch a blank check to carry out global war in perpetuity. This short bill launched us into Afghanistan and beyond, into conflicts that never had a clearly defined objective or way out. The 2001 AUMF was an effort to find an easy military solution to an exceedingly complex challenge.
A truly balanced and more effective foreign policy would seek to use all three of the most powerful tools available to us: diplomacy, development and defense. Yet we often lean far too heavily on military might as a first resort.
More:
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-09-13/barbara-lee-aumf-afghanistan-war-vote-2001
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