Dear Friend, 
There is no more room or time for excuses. The war in
Afghanistan, now the longest war in American history, needs to end. On moral,
financial, and strategic grounds, the continuing of the war in Afghanistan
cannot be justified.
President Obama has promised to start troop withdrawal in
July, but he’s being pressured to reduce the effort to a “symbolic withdrawal”
and to continue on a path to many more years of war.
We cannot wait any longer to end this war; its costs are
simply too great.
- Financial: The U.S. is spending more than $100 billion per
year in Afghanistan
- Human: 1,570 Americans killed, more than 10,000 wounded
- More than 10,000 civilian Afghan deaths, 3,000 in 2010 alone
Congress has a big role to play in what happens next.
Representatives Jim McGovern and Walter Jones have introduced important
legislation that, if passed, would require the Obama administration to present
an exit strategy for U.S. forces from Afghanistan(1).
This bill will show President Obama how much support he has
in the Congress for a real withdrawal plan beginning this summer -- but only if
it has robust support by legislators. We can help build support for this bill
by asking our senators and representatives to sign on.
Email your members of Congress and tell them to support the
“Afghanistan Exit and Accountability Act.”
Thank you for your partnership. We know that our
scriptures and history teach us that war is not the way to achieve the peace
and security we are striving to build in this world. Sometimes things seem
bleak -- but together, as part of a community seeking a new future, we can make
a difference.
Blessings,
Elizabeth,
Duane, Tim, and the team
Footnotes:
HR 1735, the Afghanistan Exit and Accountability Act:
Specifically, the bill (The “Afghanistan Exit and
Accountability Act”) would:
- Require the president to transmit to Congress a plan with
timeframe and completion date for the transition of U.S. military and security
operations in Afghanistan to the government of Afghanistan;
- Require the president to report quarterly (i.e., every 90
days) on the status of that transition, and the human and financial costs of
remaining in Afghanistan, including increased deficit and public debt; and
- Require that in those quarterly reports the president disclose to Congress the savings in five-year, 10-year, and 20-year time
periods were the U.S. to accelerate redeployment and conclude the transition of
all U.S. military and security operations to Afghanistan within 180 days (i.e.,
six months).
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