Last evening, President Obama made his long-awaited announcement on beginning withdrawal of the 103,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan. The president announced that 10,000 of these troops will be withdrawn by the end of this year, starting in July, and 23,000 more by the end of summer 2012. That will leave approximately 70,000 troops in Afghanistan, roughly double the number of troops (34,000) when he took office in 2008. The president said these remaining troops will be withdrawn "at a steady pace" going into 2014.
But that's not good enough. President Obama had an opportunity to pivot his policy on the war in Afghanistan -- to focus on the still real threats of terrorism, rather than on failed wars of occupation with massive numbers of troops on the ground. Public opinion polls now consistently show that 50 to 60 percent of the American people want the troops to come home. Two-hundred-four members of the House, from both parties, voted in late May for the McGovern-Jones amendment -- which calls for an accelerated withdrawal and a responsible exit from Afghanistan. Two members of Congress, Jim McGovern and Walter Jones, one Democrat and one Republican, were the authors of that measure and have been the real leaders of political and moral conscience on this war. Twenty-eight bipartisan senators also called for an accelerated withdrawal in a recent letter to the president. A wide array of political leaders, from both parties -- including senators Carl Levin, Max Baucus, and Richard Lugar, and Republican presidential candidates Jon Huntsman, Mitt Romney, and Ron Paul -- are expressing reservations about the war strategy. Obama could have built on these changes in public opinion and announced a dramatic change in war policy for Afghanistan. But last night, he did not.
We constantly hear the message, "Support the troops." It's on bumper stickers, at ball games, and on banners in airports. As a Christian who opposed the two wars our troops have been fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, I can say that I do support the troops. They are primarily young, from lower-income and working families, who in the current economy have few other options. The military promised them the opportunity for a job, training, and perhaps the chance to go to college on their return.
But that promise to young people with few other options came at a high price. So far, 1,552 Americans have died in the war in Afghanistan; 11,200 have been wounded. In one study of the 300,000 returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan who sought help from Veterans Affairs health centers, nearly 37 percent of those treated for the first time were suffering from mental health problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, or alcohol problems. These problems too often result in suicide. During the first half of 2009, more American soldiers committed suicide than were killed in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. In June 2010, an average of one soldier a day committed suicide. Furthermore, 11 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are unemployed.
Of course, there are very few children of members of Congress, or of finance and business executives, in the military. Those who run the country are not sending their children to fight the wars they continue to prolong. Frankly, war is good business for those who run the military-industrial complex that former President Eisenhower warned us about. Generals always recommend more war because it's their business. It gets them promotions and advances their careers. And they often distort the facts to stay in business -- claiming progress in order to justify continued war -- when there really is no significant progress at all. Meanwhile, more young people get killed or damaged for the rest of their lives, and the cost for so many innocents is even higher. That can simply no longer be justified in Afghanistan.
The president acknowledged and honored the sacrifice of the troops, and said we need to shift from nation-building in Afghanistan to nation-building at home. But the meager reduction of troops he announced last night simply doesn't support either goal. I heard on Morning Joe this morning that John McCain has more staff on Capitol Hill than the CIA reports al Qaeda now has in Afghanistan. And the threat of Bin Laden was not ended by the war in Afghanistan, but by focused intelligence and counter-terrorism in Pakistan. Yet, after the president's announcement last night, the United States will still have nearly 100,000 troops in Afghanistan for the rest of this year, and will spend more than $100 billion in the coming year. It seems the war in Afghanistan will go on and on and on.
To truly support the troops who are fighting and dying in Afghanistan, we must commit our resources where they are most needed. We must make the courageous decision to end the war in Afghanistan much faster than the president called for last night. Incremental and gradual drawdowns of troops over many years is not the correct response to a failed war. We needed a pivot to a new policy last night -- but we didn't get it.
The president's decision to finish his first term with twice as many U.S. troops in Afghanistan as when he took office is a political and moral mistake. This week, nearly 40 religious leaders delivered a letter to the White House saying "we are united in the belief that it is time to bring the U.S. war in Afghanistan to an end." We must now build on that to mobilize resistance to the war across the religious community. It's time for the faith community to help lead the movement that will bring this unnecessary and unjust war to an end. The president's message last night was "the war goes on." Our message on Afghanistan must be: War No More.
+Click here for Sojourners' FREE "War No More" bumper sticker as a gift for your involvement!
Jim Wallis is the author of Rediscovering Values: A Guide for Economic and Moral Recovery, and CEO of Sojourners. He blogs at www.godspolitics.com. Follow Jim on Twitter @JimWallis.
Follow Jim Wallis on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jimwallis
Richard (RJ) Eskow: War Economy: The Selling of Afghanistan, 2011
We must not repeat the same catastrophic mistake again!
"No" to the abandonment of Afghans to tender mercies of Arab, Chechen and European Islamists.
The continued occupation Afghanistan has been approved and mandated by numerous U.N. Security Council resolutions.Approved unanimously by all 15 states in 2009 etc.
Reconstruction of Afghanistan, must go on! And it can only go on supported by Western military.
Say NO to abandoning of Afghans to repeated Talibanization of the area.
They know better than we do? There is nothing in my life time as a citizen of the United States of America that supports that assertion. You don't have to look any further than the claims that got us into Iraq, most all of which were false. If that isn't enough for you go back and look at Vietnam. There is no doubt now that Johnson knew we couldn't win but fought on none the less. At this point we are in Afghanistan for one reason only; politicians are cowards and none of them want to be left holding the bag when we fail, so they just kick the can down the road.
I think Obama is boxed in by his generals. All of them want this war.I don't think he does.We need to
force him by peaceful protest to do what I believe he wants to do--get out of Afghanistan.
If we put our energy where it will do the best good--protesting peacefully and not taking pot shots at Obama , I believe we will get what we want.Electing another Republican, unless he is pro-peace (are there any?) won't improve the situation. Too many of the GOP are on the receiving end of lobbyist money from the military industrial complex. Check out the donor list of your rep. in Congress.It you find find a donor of that sort, you know what you have to do. Call him/her out.
I don't think he really does because he clearly recognizes the damage it is doing to him politically as well as to our country. This should be a lesson in how powerful the military industrial complex is. President Eisenhower warned us about this over 50 years ago.
I wish I had the answer to all this but I think it is above my" pay grade" as Biden says.
I think massive demonstrations protesting the war just like we did during the Vietnam War era.
It will force the generals to come to the realization that the people have spoken. Are you in or are you just going to continue to harp and complain about Obama without showing any real commitment in your beliefs? I am for marching in the streets.
So much for the good news Jim. The bad news, is the reality that each of those has the potential to cause far more devastation to their own nation than several of their opposite number might.
"new policy"
Here’s an idea. Why don’t we peacefully go after, what’s inside the head of the snake? Rather than obliterating absolutely everything around and/or about in its vicinity.
"This week, nearly 40 religious leaders delivered a letter to the White House saying "we are united in the belief that it is time to bring the U.S. war in Afghanistan to an end.""
Let us give Barack the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he keeps omitting to read the p.s. Containing the practical explanation of how to do it.
People fail to realize that all the generals who advise Obama are in favor of this war. The pressure to stay must be enormous. We can add a lot more pressure if we put our hearts and minds to it.
I have never taken my bumper stickers off my car from the Iraq war. I may doctor them to add Afghanistan's name.
Its time people. We can do this. We have to be in solidarity on this to make it happen.Just like we made Nixon back down over Vietnam.
I was a little surprised that polls show 80% of "Dems/liberals/progressives" still support him.
Sadly, I must agree with Sarah Palin's snide comment of some months ago, "How's that Hopey-Changey thing working for ya"?
Be careful what you wish for.
Democrats support the democratic ethic. Obama should be representing that. We have to make him honor it. That is our job.
Afghanistan was never that classic World War II type of war. Their were factions of the Taliban and other tribal leaders who did not represent a centralized leadership that you could capture or kill. Iraq also degraded into this tribal/sectarian conflict after Saddam was deposed...and the war was still raging. Saddam heavy-handedly dominated the various factions and religious-cultural groups (Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds) and when he fled, they all sought to take control themselves.
Dubya's neoconservative naivite that democracy could be inserted into Iraq or Afghanistan after generations of tribal, cultural and religious hatred and grudges was silly. So America was given an endless occupation.
Support the troops. Bring them home. We only need to protect our borders from invasion.
There may be future bombings and heinous acts by criminals (some call them terrorists) but classic warfare does not win those fights. Bush's flag-waiving after 9-1 rallied Americans but for all the wrong reasons. To win Daddy's war that he suposedly never finished with Saddam.
End both wars. They cost too much compared to too few results.
Your post exactly mirrors my own beliefs. If we leave Afghanistan now, two years from now or in 20 years, 18 months after we leave you will be unable to tell we were ever their.
We cannot protect America by attempting to destroy every threat at the source. Americans need to "man up", it is a dangerous world and we can never be perfectly safe.