PolitiFact.com
Statements about Afghanistan
Cokie Roberts

Cokie Roberts

Half-True

Depends on what you're paying for

Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have cost every U.S. family $45,000.

Leticia Van de Putte

Leticia Van de Putte

False

Regrettably low

Says only about 250 Texans have been killed in action since 9/11.

Paul Ryan

Paul Ryan

Mostly True

With a little hedging

Says he and Mitt Romney "always said that we agree with the 2014 deadline" for leaving Afghanistan.

David Cicilline

David Cicilline

False

Infrastructure only small part of overall spending

"We will spend $100 billion in Afghanistan this year, fixing roads, building bridges, training police officers, and more, [and] cutting the same things in our own country."

billhislam.com

billhislam.com

Pants on Fire!

Ridiculous then, ridiculous now

Says that Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam "has made it clear by his repeated actions that he will pursue a policy that promotes the interest of Islamist (sic) and their radical ideology as long as he is governor."

Sheldon Whitehouse

Sheldon Whitehouse

True

Answering the call time and again.

Rhode Island has the "the second-most heavily deployed National Guard in the United States."

Marcy Kaptur

Marcy Kaptur

Half-True

Claim ignores steadfast opposition to Iraq, Afghanistan wars

"When Marcy Kaptur brought home $42 million for new manufacturing jobs, Dennis Kucinich voted 'no'."

Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama

Half-True

Obama, and many others

Says President Obama "helped more than half a million veterans and military family members go to college through the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill."

David Cicilline

David Cicilline

True

Military experts say he's right

Says an amendment specifying when military members may use deadly force "does nothing to change existing rules of engagement for American service members."

Alan Grayson

Alan Grayson

Mostly True

Fraudulent contract spending is kind of his thing

"$360 million of our tax dollars went straight to ... the Taliban."

Cory Booker

Cory Booker

Mostly True

Taxes down in "war on terrorism"

Says for the first time in the history of the United States, the government cut taxes during wartime

Jon Huntsman

Jon Huntsman

True

Afghanistan is costly

The U.S. is spending "one out of every six Defense Department dollars on Afghanistan."

Marcy Kaptur

Marcy Kaptur

Mostly True

Troops in remote areas get the pricey petrol

"A gallon (of gasoline) delivered to the front lines for our troops in Afghanistan cost more than $400."

David Cicilline

David Cicilline

Mostly False

Most experts don't say that

"Most military experts say there is anywhere between 25 and 30 members of al Qaeda in Afghanistan."

Barack Obama

Barack Obama

Mostly True

Got the votes right, but not all the details

Says Paul Ryan "voted for two wars that were unpaid for, voted for the Bush tax cuts that were unpaid for, voted for the prescription drug bill that cost as much as my health care bill -- but wasn't paid for."  

Tim Ryan

Tim Ryan

Pants on Fire!

Here's why trusting a blog is not always best

"A report in Navy Times said that 7.3 percent of Army, Navy and Marines have thought about attempting suicide."

Marco Rubio

Marco Rubio

True

An army of newbie drivers

"Some of the men serving in the (Afghan) armed forces have never driven a vehicle before."

Kendrick Meek

Kendrick Meek

Pants on Fire!

Meek admits he was wrong in mid-debate stumble

"The Taliban has been there for years and years, I mean, hundreds of thousands of years."

Greg Abbott

Greg Abbott

False

Only true if you look at the war in Afghanistan since 2008

"More lives have been lost because of the war with the drug cartels in Juarez alone, just a few blocks from the United States of America, than have been lost in the war in Afghanistan."

Ted Ankrum

Ted Ankrum

False

No idea what he ate before launching e-mail blast

"More people were killed in the United States last year by tainted food than U.S. troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan since the wars began."

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