Congresswoman Barbara Lee Urges President Obama to Expedite Troop Withdrawal from Afghanistan
For Immediate Release
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Kristal DeKleer (202) 225-1882
Bi-partisan letter to Obama: No military solution in Afghanistan, bring troops home
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Congressman Walter Jones (R-NC) were joined by 40 Members of the House of Representatives in sending a letter to President Obama urging him to speed up the return of all U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
“We are calling on President Obama to recognize that there is no military solution in Afghanistan, and the longer we keep our troops there the longer we delay the progress of an Afghan-produced political solution,” said Congresswoman Lee, co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus Peace and Security Task Force.
The latest poll indicates that 59 percent of likely voters want U.S. troops to withdraw within a year. Last week, the Senate adopted an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act offered by Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) to require President Obama to submit a report detailing how U.S. troops will be quickly withdrawn from Afghanistan.
“Now that the President has accomplished every goal that was originally set in Afghanistan, it is time to bring home our brave men and women in uniform,” Lee continued. “After ten years and $460 billion invested in an unstable country with untrustworthy leadership, it is past time to end this war. The decade long war has already cost $444 billion of taxpayer dollars and taken the lives of 1,848 members of the armed services. Our troops have done everything we have asked of them, but they cannot be tasked with building up a modern nation state. It is time to bring our troops and tax dollars home.”
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December 6, 2011
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President,
We write to express our strong support for your recent decision to bring our troops home from Iraq by year’s end. We were relieved to learn that our service men and women will be home from Iraq for the holidays.
The ongoing war in Afghanistan, by contrast, threatens to stretch our commitment into another decade. In August you announced the gradual removal of the “surge” troops, and yet over 70,000 troops will remain in Afghanistan at this time next year. This is unsustainable and counterproductive. There is unanimous agreement that the future of Afghanistan depends on Afghans and their regional allies implementing a political solution. There is simply no military solution to the current challenges in Afghanistan and maintaining an American military presence only delays the inevitable political process while putting our brave men and women in uniform in harms’ way.
Furthermore, it is crucial that Congress plays its proper Constitutional role in any decision to leave U.S. troops in a potential combat zone. While the United States is currently scheduled to hand over full control over security and remove all combat troops by the end of 2014, a new agreement could result in an indefinite military commitment and significant financial costs, all without further Congressional approval. Dating back to 2009, eleven acts authorizing and funding troop presence in Afghanistan have included a provision specifically prohibiting the establishment of permanent bases in Afghanistan. Any agreement that obliges the U.S. to a security commitment in Afghanistan must be bound by the Constitution, and be specifically authorized by an Act of Congress, or with the advice and consent of the Senate.
While reports indicate that President Karzai plans on requiring any future strategic partnership agreement with the U.S. to be approved by the Afghan Parliament, a traditional tribal gathering, or both, there is no plan to have similar Congressional input. It is unconscionable that America could make new, lasting military commitments of tens of thousands of soldiers and hundreds of billions of dollars without express approval from Congress.
Rebuilding America must remain our top priority, and this should be reflected in our budgetary priorities. We need to end the wars and invest the savings in job creation for our future.
Sincerely,
Representative Barbara Lee Representative Walter Jones
Baldwin
Blumenauer
Capuano
Clarke (Yvette)
Conyers
Davis (Danny)
DeFazio
DeGette
Edwards
Ellison
Farr
Filner
Grijalva
Hahn
Hastings (Alcee)
Holt
Honda
Jackson Jr.
Johnson (Tim)
Lewis (John)
Lofgren
Maloney
McDermott
McGovern
Michaud
Miller (George)
Moore
Nadler
Norton
Olver
Payne
Pingree
Richardson
Serrano
Speier
Stark
Towns
Tsongas
Welch
Woolsey