A Groundswell for Significant Afghanistan Withdrawal

As President Obama prepares to announce his intentions for how many troops to withdraw from Afghanistan this year, public opinion polls show the ground is moving under him. Over the past few days, several new surveys show a significant spike in the number of people who want to see big numbers of troops brought home. The war isn't making us safer and it's not worth the costs, and following bin Laden's death, it's become impossible for the American people to make sense of keeping troops fighting and dying in Afghanistan.

Two separate polls taken on June 3-7 by different firms show a significant shift in public opinion:

• A CBS News poll shows a 16 percent increase in the number of people who think troops levels should be decreased (64 percent, vs. 48 percent last month in the same poll).
• A survey by CNN shows a 9 percent jump compared to last month in the number of people who say the U.S. should withdraw all of its troops.
• The CBS poll also showed that a whopping 73 percent of Americans believe the U.S. should withdraw a "substantial" number of troops from Afghanistan this summer.

These polls show a major move in public opinion as we approach the president's deadline for the start of troop withdrawals; the American people are practically yelling at the White House to get troops home.

The CNN and CBS surveys also put into stark relief just how badly Washington, D.C. politics lag behind U.S. public opinion. None of the numbers bandied about over the past few weeks by public officials come close to being "significant" withdrawals. Senator John McCain says only 3,000 troops should be withdrawn, a paltry number that's even smaller than the 5,000 troops suggested by an unnamed military official several weeks ago. Senator Carl Levin says 15,000 would be a better number, but that number wouldn't even reverse President Obama's first escalation of 17,000 troops, much less the 30,000 he sent in early 2010. Keep in mind, these numbers are in comparison to military force of well over 100,000, not including private security companies. The highest number among these anemic proposals, Levin's 15,000, would leave more than 85 percent of U.S. troops in Afghanistan by the end of this year. That's a fig leaf, not a significant troop withdrawal.

The Afghanistan Study Group's (ASG) proposal comes much closer to the sentiments of the American people. They propose "ceasefires, large troop reductions (30,000 this year, 40,000 in 2012), reformation of the Afghan government, and political negotiations within Afghanistan and amongst its neighbors to stabilize Afghanistan and the region, and to begin to get the United States out of Afghanistan's quicksand."

Note that we say the ASG's proposal only comes closer to the sentiments of the American people. That's because the last time anyone checked, the American people want all troops out within a year.

There's a major groundswell building across the country for ending this war, and as the president prepares to announce his intentions for the Afghanistan War, he better pay attention.

If you're one of the millions of Americans who want to bring troops home from Afghanistan, join Rethink Afghanistan on Facebook and Twitter.

 

Comments

[Davyhulme]

11:16 AM on 06/13/2011

I think that it is really great that the troops will be coming home soon! The problem is coming home to what? No jobs, homes foreclosed on and in some cases families split by divorce. Obama needs to be spending some serious time thinking about how to create jobs NOW! We have too many elderly working right now and we need to offer them something to retire if they want, maybe this will create some job opening. Jobs will help to stall home foreclosures and create demand! Offer something just until the job market turns around.

[beckjr2000]

09:37 AM on 06/13/2011

Bring them all home! No matter how long we stay or how much money we give them they will never be able to take care of themselves! You cannot rebuild a nation that was never a nation to begin with. This "country" was created by the British during their colonial period. It was no created by the people who live there. They are members of tribes, not members or citizens of a country. We finally got bin Laden and we've kicked the Taliban pretty hard. That's just about as good as it's going to get. Karzai and the other politicians are either International Drug Dearlers and or just plain corrupt! The whole country and everyone in it are not worth one American life!

[unionave]

09:35 AM on 06/13/2011

If there is an activity by our government it cost money . And in most cases it was initiated by some lobbyist who bought the favors of some members of our government . And the reason the lobbyist wanted the activity was to join the gang with siphons attached to the US Treasury . These are the words of Charlie Reese

"The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? John Boehner. He is the leader of the majority party. He and fellow House members, not the President, can approve any budget they want. If the President vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to."

If the President ordered a troop increase he had to get the money for the increase from Congress and as long as the money flows so will the occupation . Because some lobbyist is paying those that control the tap on the siphon to keep the money flowing .

So, if you really want out of any activity go to the people that write the checks and ask them to please stop the check writing . When Congress stopped writing checks for the Vietnam conflict people were killed in the stampede to leave .

http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/reese.asp

[Steve41]

09:02 AM on 06/13/2011

Time to bring our troops home. We have spent more than enough time, money and lives in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. You may not have started all of these Mr. Obama, but after over 2 years with no troop drawdown, these are now your wars. Lets put our own house in order and stop with the foreign adventurism.

Bring 'em home.

[innerpuppie]

07:58 AM on 06/13/2011

What is so pathetically sad is that he won't listen to the people of America. He's extended corporate welfare, welfare for the rich, tinkered with SS by giving a 'tax break' of 2% to American workers, piddled with PHarma and got into bed with them - he will NOT do what those who elected him want him to do - he won't. I'm sure that in his cerebral way he believes that 'he knows better' but he doesn't. He was just a baby during the Viet Nam era. You would have had to have been there to see, and to know, that Afghanistan is Obama's Viet Nam.

[trespanieli]

07:55 AM on 06/13/2011

History shows Afghanistan brought down the Soviet Union. But we should not look back, only forward. If you don't look back, how will you ever learn?

[kesac]

08:51 AM on 06/13/2011

The disintigrating Soviet Union, didn't allow the Russians to continue in Afghanistan. Afghanistan did not bring down the Soviets even though you and bin Laden would like us to think so.

[donnasaggia]

09:11 AM on 06/13/2011

Yes, but what caused the disintegration of the Soviet Union was overextending itself both in the arms race and its colonial adventures in Afghanistan. Overextension is key. The British empire fell after WW2, but overextension prepared the way and the War costs were the final nail.

[Robert Frank]

07:07 AM on 06/13/2011

it doesnt matter how many groundswells of opinion turn against the war...it will still be business as usual and I wouldnt be surprised if some of the dopes in charge find a way to keep troops in Iraq and Afghanistan for years and years...and I've got nothing against Obama but he's being two-faced when he doesn't live up to his promises to END both wars...END not draw down...END not bring some token amount of troops home...END both and LEAVE both countries.... NO TROOPS there at all..NO advisors...NO nobody

[salvy859]

06:44 AM on 06/13/2011

Bring our kids home now! Besides the corporations that benefit from war all that has been accomplished is were more in debt and America has more enemies not to mention we have lost 6000 of our sons and daughters with another 200,000 maimed send your own damn kids

[kesac]

08:56 AM on 06/13/2011

We have no more enemies today than ever before. If we bail out and leave the Middle East to a growing Jihadi threat, you are condeming many more of our grand children to death than we can ever imagine. The Jihadi's are attempting to build their strength to launch WWIII. They are using similar tactices to those used by the Soviets in 1914. We will not get by with 70 years of Cold War next time.
We can either defeat them now, or just give them battle practice for next time. Your choice.

[salvy859]

10:31 AM on 06/13/2011

then by all means sign up and go. Where this country is headed we already screwed our grandchildren

[Carl Caroli]

06:23 AM on 06/13/2011

None of our representatives, from the president on down, are listening to the people. Funny what money can do.

[ctom]

04:04 AM on 06/13/2011

Instead of people arguing how many troops to come home, they should argue, how many troops should be sent, if any? Politicians take it for granted that 100,000+ troops are there and hence, let them assume there are zero troops instead and make a brand new case for US intervention. That makes more sense since we have no clue why so many troops are there when the Taliban (although still coming back) has been driven from power and Osama is dead. Why does the US need to intervene militarily in Afghanistan and what is the cost?

[Sha Zam]

03:59 AM on 06/13/2011

How long can anyone continue to believe war is about anything other than corporate profits?

[kesac]

08:59 AM on 06/13/2011

It is about containing a threat to the Free World that will if allowed to grow eclipse the threat we had to face from the Nazis or the Communists. 54 million deaths will be nothing compared to the toll that we will have to endure if those "lovers of death" gain ascendancy in the Mid East and have the assets of nations put at their command?
How can any one continue to be so short sighted, and only concerned about today?

[Sha Zam]

03:55 AM on 06/13/2011

Tell the truth about why US troops are in Afghanistan. Tell the truth!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGlYCKe1Mps

[Puller58]

01:24 AM on 06/13/2011

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[Ante Jutronic]

01:13 AM on 06/13/2011

Let them grow old there! We have no jobs for all those brutalized rambos, and if they don't find jobs I'm pretty sure they're gonna go "jared loughner" in our malls. Let them come back for retirement.

[TheBurdicks]

05:10 AM on 06/13/2011

Those "brutalized rambos" are our sons and daughters, all too often the sons and daughters of the growing ranks of the disenfranchised. They have been dispatched on this fools errand by the same greedy, rich, smug, old white guys inside the Beltway who are responsible for the growing ranks of the disenfranchised among us.
Rail not against these youth, dedicated not to the cause of the rich and powerful, but to the protection of their comrades in arms, the guys in the ditch beside them.
Instead rail against those responsible for this aberration.
Bring them all home. Turn all the swords into plowshares. Enable each and every one of them to turn to tilling the now fallow fields of our common future.

[MikeDu]

12:16 AM on 06/13/2011

Apparently, it all depends on what unelected institutional Washington wants. Its their town and those pesky elected officials are only visitors. It wasn't many months ago, you may recall, that institutional Washington was ratcheting up pressure to keep troops in Iraq - for entirely obscure reasons and over the objection of all parties involved. But institutional Washington wants what it wants. I frankly don't knoow what it is institutional Washington wants with of Afghanistan. Their 'real' reasons are rarely if ever the reasons given to the press.