Coalition letter on troop withdrawal from Afghanistan

FYI -  if interested in signing onto attached letter, contact John 

John Isaacs - jdi@clw.org

 

[Attachment(s) from John Isaacs included below]

Below and attached is a letter to the President urging an accelerated American troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. Press reports indicate that the President is considering his options now, with some pressure coming to delay further withdrawals and to retain some number of troops beyond 2014.

The deadline for signing the letter is Friday, December 21, 10:00 AM.

If you can sign, please give me your name and organization (affiliations for identification purposes only) or some other identification, such as retired diplomat or military or government official.

Thank you.

John Isaacs

December 21, 2012

The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President,

As you contemplate the end of combat operations in Afghanistan and the transition to Afghan responsibility, we urge you to expedite troop withdrawal through 2013. The men and women of the United States military have achieved all that they can in Afghanistan. Now it is time to bring them home.

Operation Enduring Freedom recently entered its twelfth year, which makes it America’s longest war. The war has claimed over 2,000 American lives, with more than 18,000 Americans wounded in combat. For thousands of our returning soldiers, the trauma of protracted conflict has led to post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental illnesses, while suicide rates have reached an all-time high. Moreover, the conflict has cost American taxpayers nearly $600 billion, a number that will only continue to grow as we honor our commitment to the veterans of the past decade of war. The human costs of this war have also been born by Afghan civilians with untold numbers of dead and wounded.

Some have urged you to pause or slow down troop drawdowns until the end of 2013 or even the end of 2014. We believe that such a course is not worth its cost in American blood and treasure. Rather, we urge you to accelerate the handover of combat responsibility to the Afghan army, completing this transition by December 31, 2013 or sooner. Moreover, we ask that you seek prior congressional approval for any US troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014.

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has expressed confidence that an expedited transition is both possible and desirable: “Our goal is to complete all of that transition in 2013,” Secretary Panetta stated in February 2012. “Hopefully by mid- to the latter part of 2013 we’ll be able to make a transition from a combat role.” We hope that in upcoming deliberations, you will make this goal a priority. 

In November 2012, a bipartisan Senate vote for an accelerated withdrawal showed how committed both parties are to bringing our troops home sooner, rather than later. An amendment sponsored by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) that encouraged a faster end to combat operations passed the Senate by a vote of 62-33, with strong bipartisan support. In this vote, the Senate joined the American public who overwhelmingly want to bring our troops home now. As Sen. Merkley stated, “We have accomplished our initial missions of destroying al-Qaida training camps in Afghanistan and hunting down those responsible for 9/11. It is time to bring our troops home.”

Since 2009, we have strongly supported your commitment to ending America’s difficult and costly war in Afghanistan. The next few weeks present a genuine opportunity to fulfill this goal. We urge you to heed the wishes of the majority of Americans by finally bringing an end to our nation’s longest war.

Sincerely,*

John Isaacs

Council for a Livable World

Paul Kawika Martin

Peace Action

Stephen Miles

Win Without War

Matt Southworth

Friends Committee on National Legislation

*Affiliations for identification purposes only

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Attachment(s) from John Isaacs

1 of 1 File(s)

Afghanistan - Letter to President Obama (3).docx