FLVCS is pleased to report that a little progress is being made to persuade Congress to bring our troops home from Afghanistan. Last week, The House of Representatives by majority vote approved an amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill to require the accelerated transition of combat operations from U.S. Armed Forces to the Government of Afghanistan. The amendment establishes the sense of Congress that should the President determine the necessity for post 2014 deployment of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, the Congress should vote to authorize such presence and mission by no later than June 2014.

While this latest vote is progress, FLVCS calls on Congress to end funding for the deployment of U.S. troops to Afghanistan now.  After all, America is a representative democracy. Why do our Representatives allow the President and Pentagon to lead them down the garden path again and again?

We know that Afghanistan is the “Forgotten War,” but we also know that the war is not ending quickly, or completely.  Unless Congress acts, a year from now, 34,000 troops will remain in combat—more than when President Obama took office.  

In addition, we note that the White House has not announced how many soldiers will remain in Afghanistan after the war’s “Official End” in 2014. We want to know the post-2014 mission for American troops.

Unless we the people, and our representatives in Congress, bring our troops home, the President and the Pentagon will continue to drag their feet and waste blood and treasure in a fruitless effort to “stabilize” Afghanistan.  The fact is, Afghanistan cannot be stabilized by American troops. We’ve been failing at that for many long years. To continue the project is not worth the life or limb of one more soldier. After all, the Pentagon admits, “—the insurgency remains adaptable with a regenerative capacity.”

Of course the insurgency is adaptive and will not quit fighting. The insurgents are Afghans with a different culture and outlook than ours. They view themselves as fighting foreign, infidel invaders. It’s unlikely that more time for American troops in country will make a difference.

The facts are that the buildup of Afghan forces is not close to succeeding. The Pentagon reports that only one of 23 Afghan army brigades can operate without NATO support and green on green attacks are not unusual. Do the generals ever wonder why the insurgency is adaptable with a regenerative capacity while the Afghan army, despite so much blood and billions of dollars spent, is a failure?

We are keeping troops in Afghanistan at a high cost and for little benefit. In fact, a good case can be made that the national interest is hurt by keeping troops there.

Ask yourself, who benefits from the war? Hint, follow the money.

Speak up! Tell your Representative and Senators that not one more dollar should be spent to keep troops in Afghanistan. Ask them to spend money on a productive project that should have priority. Abolish the disability claims backlog at VA by provisionally granting all the pending claims.

Let’s all support the troops and be on the right side of history.

How your Representative voted on the Amendment:  http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2013/roll226.xml#NV