Sen. Webb speaks on health care reform, war in Afghanistan

Webb spoke at a meeting of the Brigades, a group of Democratic activists formed to support Webb’s campaign for the Senate in 2006. Webb expressed appreciation for the Brigades for helping him win that election even though his campaign was outspent two-to-one by Republican George Allen. “I never would have been elected if it hadn’t been for people like you,” he told the audience. “They had the money. We had the people.”

According to Webb, the conflict in Afghanistan is not like the wars in Iraq or Vietnam and more like the situation in Lebanon in the 1980s, where a weak central government was surrounded by militant factions. Increasing the troop level to 40,000 as McChrystal wants would amount to an occupation, he said. He lauded President Obama for pressing his advisers on how to end our involvement. While the initial purpose was fighting against international terrorism, “a huge percentage of our military is tied down dealing with sectarian violence,” and Al Queda is gaining strength.

Webb also spoke about the need to address the nation’s overflowing prison population, noting that the United States has 5 percent of the world’s population, but 25 percent of the world’s prisoners. Webb introduced legislation to create a blue-ribbon commission to look at every aspect of the criminal justice system, including the over-incarceration of drug offenders and people with mental illnesses and the lack of effective re-entry programs.

When asked about global warming, Webb lauded the promise of small nuclear power plants and expressed misgivings about cap and trade. “I’m not convinced that is the best way to go,” he said, adding that heavy polluters like China should not be left off the hook.