Withdrawing troops is responsible option

The longest war in American history drags on in its 11th year at a cost of $300 million per day, with no prospect of progress. The waste goes well beyond taxpayers' money - nearly 1,900 U.S. Armed Service personnel have died there, and tens of thousands bear the invisible wounds of post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. And Afghanistan is poorer and more alienated to the United States than ever.

Our January U.S. National Intelligence Estimate states the war in Afghanistan to be a stalemate. Yet our military and elected leaders speak of progress and determination to maintain our military effort there until the end of 2014.

U.S. Army Lt. Col. Daniel Davis has reported to Congress and the public indicating that the Pentagon has been deceiving Congress and the public as to conditions in Afghanistan. Davis' remarks echo judgments made by thousands of veterans of the Afghan war.

A young veteran, John Kerry, testified April 22, 1971, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee: “How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?” We see American soldiers and veterans still asking this question today and still getting the same misleading answers.

Chapter 161 of Veterans for Peace calls for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan at a rate commensurate with the security of our troops. Given the dismal progress toward the stated objectives, we see no other “responsible” option for ending the war.

Ed Flaherty

President,

Veterans for Peace Chapter 161

Iowa City