Letter to Trump: End U.S. War in Afghanistan
(ActionNetwork.org)
Prominent Americans, peace activists, and organizations have created an open letter to President Donald Trump asking him to end U.S. war in Afghanistan. It reads:
The U.S. war in Afghanistan is well into its 16th year. In 2014 President Obama declared it over, but it will remain a political, financial, security, legal, and moral problem unless you actually end it.
The U.S. military now has approximately 8,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan , plus 6,000 other NATO troops, 1,000 mercenaries, and another 26,000 contractors (of whom about 8,000 are from the United States). That's 41,000 people engaged in a foreign occupation of a country 15 years after the accomplishment of their stated mission to overthrow the Taliban government.
During each of the past 15 years, our government in Washington has informed us that success was imminent. During each of the past 15 years, Afghanistan has continued its descent into poverty, violence, environmental degradation, and instability. The withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops would send a signal to the world, and to the people of Afghanistan, that the time has come to try a different approach, something other than more troops and weaponry.
The ambassador from the U.S.-brokered and funded Afghan Unity government has reportedly told you that maintaining U.S. involvement in Afghanistan is "as urgent as it was on Sept. 11, 2001." There's no reason to believe he won't tell you that for the next four years, even though John Kerry tells us “Afghanistan now has a well-trained armed force ...meeting the challenge posed by the Taliban and other terrorists groups.” But involvement need not take its current form.
The United States is spending $4 million an hour on planes, drones, bombs, guns, and over-priced contractors in a country that needs food and agricultural equipment, much of which could be provided by U.S. businesses. Thus far, the United States has spent an outrageous$783 billion with virtually nothing to show for it except the death of thousands of U.S. soldiers , and the death, injury and displacement of millions of Afghans. The Afghanistan War has been and will continue to be, as long as it lasts, a steady source of scandalous stories of fraud andwaste. Even as an investment in the U.S. economy this war has been a bust.
But the war has had a substantial impact on our security: it has endangered us. Before Faisal Shahzad tried to blow up a car in Times Square, he had tried to join the war against the United States in Afghanistan. In numerous other incidents, terrorists targeting the United States have stated their motives as including revenge for the U.S. war in Afghanistan, along with other U.S. wars in the region. There is no reason to imagine this will change.
In addition, Afghanistan is the one nation where the United States is engaged in major warfare with a country that is a member of the International Criminal Court. That body has now announced that it is investigating possible prosecutions for U.S. crimes in Afghanistan. Over the past 15 years, we have been treated to an almost routine repetition of scandals: hunting children from helicopters, blowing up hospitals with drones, urinating on corpses -- all fueling anti-U.S. propaganda, all brutalizing and shaming the United States.
Ordering young American men and women into a kill-or-die mission that was accomplished 15 years ago is a lot to ask. Expecting them to believe in that mission is too much. That fact may help explain this one: the top killer of U.S. troops in Afghanistan is suicide. The second highest killer of American military is green on blue, or the Afghan youth who the U.S. is training are turning their weapons on their trainers! You yourself recognized this, saying: "Let's get out of Afghanistan. Our troops are being killed by the Afghans we train and we waste billions there. Nonsense! Rebuild the USA."
The withdrawal of U.S. troops would also be good for the Afghan people, as the presence of foreign soldiers has been an obstacle to peace talks. The Afghans themselves have to determine their future, and will only be able to do so once there is an end to foreign intervention.
We urge you to turn the page on this catastrophic military intervention. Bring all U.S. troops home from Afghanistan. Cease U.S. airstrikes and instead, for a fraction of the cost, help the Afghans with food, shelter, and agricultural equipment.
SIGNED BY:
Elliott Adams, Veterans For Peace Deborah K. Andresen, Tackling Torture at the Top Rita Archibald, Nonviolence Trainer Judy Bello, Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars Medea Benjamin, Code Pink Fred Bially Barry Binks, Veterans for Peace Ch. 87, Occupy Beale Toby Blome', Code Pink Alison Bodine, Mobilization Against War and Occupation Leah Bolger, World Beyond War John Calder, Veterans for Peace Ch. 69 Kathleen Christison, Author, Veterans for Peace Ramsey Clark, former U.S. Attorney General Helena Cobban, Just World Books David Cobb, 2004 Green Party Presidential Nominee Jeff Cohen, RootsAction.org Gerry Condon,Veterans for Peace National Board of Directors Mary Crosby, Roman Catholic Women Priests James Eilers, Code Pink Auxiliary Michael Eisenscher, U.S. Labor Against the War Melissa Crosby, Black Lives Matter Nicolas J S Davies, author Mary Dean, World Beyond War Thomas Dickinson, Tackling Torture at the Top, Women Against Military Madness Jennifer DiZio, UC Berkeley Maria Eitz, Roman Catholic Women Priests Daniel Ellsberg, whistleblower Jodie Evans, Code Pink Joseph J. Fahey, Pax Christi USA Ambassador of Peace Robert Fantina, World Beyond War Bill Fletcher Jr., BlackCommentator.com Margaret Flowers, Popular Resistance Glen Ford, Black Agenda Report Bruce K. Gagnon, Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space Johan Galtung, Founder Trancend Interntional Lindsey German, Stop the War Coalition UK The Rev. Dr. Diana C. Gibson, Multifaith Voices for Peace & Justice Michael Goldstein, The 99 Percent Kevin Gosztola, Shadowproof.com Will Griffin, The Peace Report Patty Guerrero, Tackling Torture at the Top, Women Against Military Madness, Pax-Salon Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit Amith Gupta, student, NYU School of Law Bill Habedank, Veterans For Peace Ch. 115 Steve Harms, Peace Lutheran Church, Past-President Interfaith Council of Contra Costa County David Hartsough, Peaceworkers Jan Hartsough, San Francisco Friends Meeting Hayley Hathaway, Quaker Earthcare Witness Dud Hendrick, Veterans for Peace Adam Hochschild, author Matthew Hoh, former director of Afghanistan Study Group Martha Hubert, Code Pink San Francisco Aaron Hughes, Iraq Veterans Against the War Tony Jenkins, World Beyond War Sonja Johnson, Women Against Military Madness Kathy Kelly, Voices For Creative Nonviolence Gary W. King, Tackling Torture at the Top, Women Against Military Madness John Kiriakou, former Central Intelligence agency officer Dennis Kucinich, former Member of United States Congress Peter Kuznick, Professor of History, American University Barry Ladendorf, Veterans For Peace President Board of Directors Paul Leuenberger, Veterans for Peace Dave Lindorff, This Can't Be Happening Dave Logsdon, Veterans For Peace Ch. 27 Richard Lord, Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice Douglas Mackey, Global Days of Listening Jody Mackey, New Traditions Fair Trade Mike Madden, Veterans For Peace Ch. 27 Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Laureate Ben Manski, Liberty Tree Foundation for the Democratic Revolution Stephen Matchett, AVP Trainer, San Francisco Friends Meeting Sherri Maurin, Campaign Nonviolence, Associate Veterans for Peace Ch. 69 Ken Mayers, Veterans for Peace Ray McGovern, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity Cynthia McKinney, former member of United States Congress Stephen McNeil, American Friends Service Committee Michael T. McPhearson, Veterans For Peace Executive Director Tom Morman, Nonviolence Coalition San Jose Nick Mottern, Knowdrones.com Elizabeth Murray, former Deputy National Intelligence Officer for the Near East, NIC Michael Nagler, Metta Center for Nonviolence Founder and President Carroll Nast, Veterans for Peace Ch. 122 Agneta Norberg, Swedish Peace Council Cathe Norman, Veterans for Peace Associate Tom Norman, Veterans for Peace Ch. 60 Todd E. Pierce, JA, MAJ, USA (Ret.) Gareth Porter, journalist, author Pancho Francisco Ramos-Stierle, Casa de Paz, Canticle Farm John C. Reiger, Veterans For Peace Denny Riley, Veterans For Peace Chapter 69 Coleen Rowley, retired FBI agent and legal counsel Mike Rufo, Musician Judith Sandoval, Veterans for Peace Ch. 69 Bill Schwab, Americans for Justice Julie Searle, Educator Michael Shaughnessy, educator Cindy Sheehan, peace activist Eva Sivill, Casa de Paz, Canticle Farm Alice Slater, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation Gar Smith, Environmentalists Against War David Solnit, Global Organizer, Writer, Puppeteer Norman Solomon, RootsAction.org Melvin Starks, Unitarian Universalist Church Jill Stein, 2016 Green Party presidential candidate David Swanson, World Beyond War Shelley Tannenbaum, Quaker Earthcare Witness Brian Terrell, Voices for Creative Nonviolence Tiffany Tool, Nonviolent Peaceforce Chip Tucker, Charlottesville Friends Meeting Louie J. Vitale, OFM, Pace e Bene, Nevada Desert Experience Zohreh Whitaker, Veterans for Peace, Peace Action Phil Wilayto, the Virginia Defender Ann Wright, retired U.S. Army colonel Kevin Zeese, Popular Resistance
(organizations above for identification)
ALSO SIGNED BY:
Creating a Culture of Peace
Mobilization Against War and Occupation, Vancouver Canada Popular Resistance Veterans For Peace Voices for Creative Nonviolence World Beyond War |
