"The White House is not currently reviewing options for further troop withdrawals and no decisions have been made. As the president has said, we will bring home a total of 33,000 troops by next summer," White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said in a statement.
"After that initial reduction, our troops will continue coming home at a steady pace as Afghan security forces move into the lead. The president will make decisions on further drawdowns at the appropriate time based on our interests and in consultation with our allies and Afghan partners."
AFSC is an active member of the United for Peace and Justice network. Take a moment to call and send a message to your member of Congress.
The situation in Afghanistan is a nightmare.
The surge has not worked. As we escalated the war, the insurgency fought harder and grew in numbers. Western troops are seen as foreign occupiers in the Afghan homeland, and now have murdered 16 civilians, including little children, in the middle of the night in Kandahar province. The surge has produced a record number of coalition and Afghan deaths, injuries and lost limbs. The surge has not stopped the momentum of the insurgency; just last year there were over 16,000 IED attacks against U.S. troops – a record number. And the cost of an average IED is just $30.
Bring our troops home. Call your member of Congress toll-free at 877-429-0678 or click here to send an e-mail.
Afghan outrage over Koran burnings and murders is yet another vivid reminder of what has gone very wrong in Afghanistan. American troops do not speak Afghan languages and are not familiar with Afghan culture. They are not able to build Afghanistan – that must be done by Afghans, and they can begin as soon as U.S. troops withdraw.
Lt. Col. Daniel Davis, a highly respected military officer, who recently returned from Afghanistan, has written a declassified report detailing the actual state of affairs in Afghanistan. He states: “Senior ranking U.S. military leaders have so distorted the truth when communicating with the U.S. Congress and the American people in regards to conditions on the ground in Afghanistan that the truth has become unrecognizable. This deception has damaged America’s credibility among both our allies and enemies, severely limiting our ability to reach a political solution to the war in Afghanistan.”
This insanity must end, and quickly. Going into our 11th year of war, we know that more time, money, and resources will not change the realities in Afghanistan.
Bring our troops home now. Call your member of Congress toll-free at 877-429-0678 or click here to send an e-mail.
Along with Lt. Col. Davis, we call on the House and Senate Armed Services Committees to conduct an investigation and public hearings into the facts about Afghanistan calling the senior and former generals referred to in Davis’ report to provide their version of events under oath.
U.S. Troops and all Americans Deserve the Truth
Contact your Member of Congress to co-sponsor H.780, Barbara Lee's bill, which limits funding for the Afghanistan war to providing for the safe and orderly withdrawal from Afghanistan of all members of the Armed Forces and Department of Defense contractor personnel who are in Afghanistan. Read the text of the bill and see the list of cosponsors.
Click here to send an e-mail to your Member of Congress asking him or her to support H.780 or call their office toll-free at 877-429-0678.
(Thanks to Friends Committee on National Legislation for providing the toll-free number!) Please report back results to rustiandgael@unitedforpeace.org
- UFPJ Afghanistan Working Group
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