The ten-year anniversary of the war in Afghanistan is a somber moment. We must honor the ultimate sacrifice made by nearly 2,000 brave Americans. Congress authorized this war with good intentions -- to respond to the horrific attacks of September 11, 2001. We went after Osama bin Laden -- who orchestrated the attacks -- and a large majority of his al Qaeda followers. Ten years later, things have changed. Bin Laden is dead. al Qaeda has scattered around the world. And Afghanistan is in the midst of an internal struggle to weed out corruption and form a legitimate democracy. With bin Laden dead and al Qaeda largely gone from Afghanistan, I believe it is long past time to bring our troops home. On this 10th anniversary, I offer 10 reasons we should end the war in Afghanistan.
1. Cost: Taxpayers have spent more than $454 billion on the war in Afghanistan. That is enough to pay for the president's jobs plan.
2. Economy: Our economy is still struggling because of high unemployment. The $130 billion a year that has been spent on wars in the last decade could have created 936,000 education jobs, 780,000 health care jobs, and 364,000 construction jobs. The unemployment rate for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is 11.7 percent.
3. Debt: Our national debt is $14 trillion and needs to be reduced. But instead of cutting programs for seniors and the needy, we should stop spending $130 billion a year on a war that isn't making us safer.
4. Lives: More than 1,700 service members have died in the war in Afghanistan, including four from my Congressional District. August 2011 was the deadliest month of the 10-year war. In addition, 18 veterans a day are committing suicide. It is time to stop the bloodshed.
5. Length: Afghanistan is now the longest war in American history, passing the boondoggle in Vietnam. Our country simply cannot afford war without end.
6. The Wounded: Over 3,000 U.S. troops have been seriously wounded in Afghanistan, many with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury.
7. Bin Laden: In 2001, we went to war in Afghanistan in order to capture or kill Bin Laden. Ten years later we finally brought him to justice, but it was 20 Navy Seals not 100,000 troops that carried out the mission. Clearly, smart intelligence and targeted attacks are a more effective way to fight al Qaeda than a large military footprint.
8. National Security: It is estimated that there are fewer than 50 al Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan. So who exactly are we fighting? Furthermore, our continued presence there is serving as a recruiting tool for terrorists around the world.
9. Future: The United States is losing the competitiveness race as countries like India and China invest in education, technology and innovation. With so much money going to war, we are unable to keep up. The $130 billion that will be spent in Afghanistan this year could be used to create 21st century jobs here at home.
10. American People: As is often the case, the American people are way ahead of Congress on this issue. A strong majority believes we should bring our troops home and focus on rebuilding bridges, roads, and schools here in the United States, not Afghanistan. We should take our cue from them.
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Afghanistan borders both Iran and Turkmenistan, countries with the second and third largest natural gas reserves in the world. Current rivalry for pipeline routes and energy resources reflects competition for power and control in the region. Pipelines are important today in the same way that railway building was important in the 19th century. They connect trading partners and influence the regional balance of power. Afghanistan is a strategic piece of real estate in the geopolitical struggle for power and dominance in the region.
I'm not in support of the war in Afghanistan. I'm merely pointing out facts and to answer #8 because Rep. Speier asks who we're fighting. We're not fighting anyone. We fighting for energy consumption.
i am shocked only 29 comments.
RIP all our young soldiers who gave your life.
For you, we need to end this war now.
made much sense.
Invading an entire, extremely remote and underdeveloped country,
when the real issue is a few hundred nuts ?
They say now the number is only 50-100 as our real enemies.
Yet we spend $ 1 million per soldier per year there, and I've heard
$ 400 to get a gallon of gas to one of our vehicles ?!?
Unless there's a secret thing like the Lost Ark, a Super Spaceship,
or the answer's to the Pyramid's, why are we there exactly ?
It's helping Russia, China, etc. more than us.....and they don't
spend a penny....in fact they make money off of this !
And worse, "that" day ten years ago was very complex, over
40% of the US agree's to that and that we don't have all the
answer's, that it might be even a more sinister situation,
as say allowed by the Neocon's......so we may have
gone, more or less, after the wrong people anyway !
other places....if not control then lots of influence.....
Do your research.....that day was very complex....even some of
the Commissioner's, like Kean and Hamilton, want a new one.....
The neocon's said they wanted a New Pearl Harbor.....
and by golly they got one pretty quickly after taking over.....
gee wiz....amazing huh....
1st it was to capture or kill Osama bin-Laden, but we allowed him to escape (diverting attention, resources, manpower to Iraq).
2nd it was to rid that country of the Taliban government, which we did, then let most of them escape, yet now are negotiating terms so they can resume some influence-power.
3rd it was to restore security, which hasn't happened, as centuries' old tribal-sectarian rivalries create daily-deadly violence.
4th it was to help form a national government, yet our "puppets," Karzai et al, are so weak and incompetent, few Afghans deem them relevant or legitimate.
5th it was for nation-building (infrastructure, etc.), yet US-sponsored leaders there are corrupt, diverting plane loads of cash into private-foreign accounts, and projects we do get built are destroyed via home-grown violence or our drone attacks.
6th, it was to "win the hearts and minds" of the Afghan people, which is unlikely, given we're dropping bombs and aiming drones at them, slaughtering-maiming unarmed civilians daily.
The only reason we're still there is to stay the course, which is to keep an on-going war for the profiteers, corporate and special interests who've made fortunes bilking the taxpayers, most of whose behaviors-decisions have hampered rather than helped the military.
owners even if it results in our eventual demise. Would Patriots trade a bag of silver for the
wellbeing of the country?
Semper Fi
Former U.S. Army General Stanley McChrystal says only half the job has been done.
Are we going to waste more lives and money for another 10 years?
This war is lost. Time to go home.
Bring them home. Not next year. Now.
Semper Fi
- Col David H. Hackworth
As one of your constituents, I am loosing faith with the slow crawl you have undertaken to help lead America. It was time to get out of Afghanistan the moment Bush and his fellow conspirators abandoned the mission to kill or capture Bin Laden. Have you spoken with the Tillman family?
Where is your support of the Wall Street Protestors? Why have you failed to join the Progressive Caucus? How can you continue to support the less-than-half measures our failure of a President keeps spewing?
I am afraid I can no longer endorse you and will push locally for a primary opponent next time you are up for re-election.
Afghanistan has rich mineral deposits that could be mined just
like Iraq has huge oil fields, and where are the returning military
going to get jobs? Big oil and other business have some invested
interest in keeping us in these wars for now.