President Obama announced his decision to send 17,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan, on the grounds that 'the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan demands urgent attention'.
United For Peace and Justice strongly opposes this decision. We urge you to immediately call on President Obama to choose diplomacy, not escalation. We must let him know that a military solution is not the answer in Afghanistan.
Call 202-456-1111 today!
Tell the Obama administration that:
1] You oppose the President's decision to send 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan this week
2] You want to see this administration take a new approach in Afghanistan, which includes:
- Reducing troop levels in Afghanistan and rejecting the idea that there is a military solution to the problem
- Immediately withdrawing all U.S. troops from Afghanistan
- A commitment to diplomacy involving all major regional players
- Addressing the real needs of Afghans by funding improvements in health care, clean water, education, security, etc., through Afghan NGOs, using local labor and services
ESCALATION: Bad for Them, Bad for Us
Obama and Our New Congress Must Take Bold Action to Keep Hope Alive for Afghan Peace
We are pleased that President Obama has already made good on some of his campaign promises. In his second day on the job he reversed policy on U.S. detention and interrogation practices; empowered a task force to review existing detention policies and the lawful disposition of detainees in U.S. custody; and ordered the closing of the torture-stained U.S. prison at Guantánamo Bay. There is one promise Barack Obama must break: his commitment to increase U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan.
We encourage you to join the growing call for the Obama Administration and Congress to stop the escalation and end the war in Afghanistan.
• There is no "military solution" in Afghanistan. Obama's advisors say the war in Afghanistan "cannot be won on the battlefield” and military think tanks like the Rand Corporation agree that political, local law enforcement and peacekeeping solutions are a more effective alternative to increases in foreign military force. Pentagon plans to send 30,000 troops will expand 7 years of failed U.S. strategy in Afghanistan. Ultimately, Afghan security must be led by Afghans.
• Afghanistan has been the training ground for U.S. torture. The torture of detainees by the U.S. did not originate at Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo. These practices were exported from Bagram Air Base and other military prisons in Afghanistan. More military activity will mean more detentions, even while there is no policy to process the 600 currently held without charges at Bagram.
• Americans, Europeans and Afghans do not support foreign military escalation that will cost many lives. At least 18,000 Afghans have been killed since the U.S. invasion and tens of thousands of innocent people have been injured. Civilian casualties foster resentment among Afghans and distrust of their own government and U.S. forces. Nearly 1,100 U.S. and “coalition” troops have been killed in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion. Over 2/3 of the people of this country oppose increasing troops in Afghanistan, and a majority of Europeans want their troops to return from this disastrous NATO mission.
We must lead in a new direction. For 8 long years, the antiwar movement laid the groundwork for ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and redirecting military spending. We welcome President Obama’s commitment to take our nation in a new direction. However, his course on Afghanistan must be altered now with bold and principled action, which helps address the Afghan’s real need for health care, clean water and education, instead of continuing to cripple Afghanistan with more years of war. Now, we must make the United States radically change its failed policy in Afghanistan.
The first step to ending the occupation in Afghanistan is to stop increasing troops!
Call President Obama and your Congressperson today, and tell them that together
we must stop the military buildup and completely withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
