[Peace-discuss] afghanistan announcement - a response to the news that US troops will stay for just a few more years...

Thu Oct 15 23:05:07 EDT 2015

Medea Benjamin proposed, on the UFPJ Activist list...

On Thu, Oct 15, 2015 at 12:09 PM, medea benjamin 
<medea.benjamin at gmail.com <mailto:medea.benjamin at gmail.com>> wrote:

    Should we put out something responding to the never-ending
    stationing of US troops in Afghanistan?
    Medea
    _______________________________________________

Several people responded Yes!, and David Swanson drafted a proposed 
statement.   I thought this was really good.  -- Stuart

-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: 	Re: [ufpj-activist] afghanistan announcement
Date: 	Thu, 15 Oct 2015 13:19:58 -0400
From: 	David Swanson <davidcnswanson at gmail.com>
To: 	medea benjamin <medea.benjamin at gmail.com>
CC: 	Kathy Kelly <Kathy at vcnv.org>, codepink national 
<codepink at googlegroups.com>, ufpj-activist List 
<ufpj-activist at lists.mayfirst.org>

I'm glad to draft if someone else will do the signature collecting

DRAFT

Reject Plan to Continue War on Afghanistan

President Obama's decision to leave actually ending, as opposed to 
officially "ending," the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan to his successor 
(barring Congress developing the nerve and the decency to act) 
illustrates our collective and his personal failure to overcome what 
candidate Obama once called the mindset that gets us into wars. The idea 
that year 15 or year 16 is going to go better in Afghanistan than the 
first 14 years have gone is based on no evidence whatsoever, but merely 
the hope that something will change combined with a misguided and 
arrogant sense of responsibility to control someone else's country. As 
numerous Afghans have been saying for nearly 14 years, Afghanistan will 
be a disaster when the U.S. occupation ends, but it will be a larger 
disaster the longer it takes to do so.

This longest-ever U.S. war since the destruction of the Native American 
nations is, when measured in deaths, dollars, destruction, and numbers 
of troops and weapons, far more President Obama's war than President 
Bush's. Yet President Obama has been given credit for "ending" it, 
without actually ending it, for nearly seven years, including while he 
was more than tripling the U.S. troop presence. The idea that escalating 
a war helps to end it, built on myths and distortions about past wars 
(Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Iraq "surge"), has to be set aside after 
these many years of failure. The pretense that a military can both end 
and not end the occupation of another people's country by shiting to 
"non-combat" troops (even while bombing a hospital) must be abandoned.

The view that further war, in particular with drones, is 
counterproductive on its own terms is shared with us by
--U.S. Lt. General Michael Flynn 
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.aljazeera.com_news_2015_07_retired-2Dgeneral-2Ddrones-2Ddamage-2Dgood-2D150716105352708.html&d=BQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=3xd2IghJOg9HgL1JpT6dxz2wPHea12VmOrB4VnM9yHE&s=b-EmtNHOuYPS23fz5-f7RWFeDaQLI-8S-SiSaYh7H5g&e=>, 
who quit as head of the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) in 
August 2014: "The more weapons we give, the more bombs we drop, that 
justâ¦ fuels the conflict."
--Former CIA Bin Laden Unit Chief Michael Scheuer 
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__youtu.be_fF2beaBcdhc&d=BQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=3xd2IghJOg9HgL1JpT6dxz2wPHea12VmOrB4VnM9yHE&s=DEn_9QRczZ-TiBUmfDSkCdePKFOgdQ_3IRfkyVGKf2Y&e=>, 
who says the more the United States fights terrorism the more it creates 
terrorism.
--The CIA 
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.commondreams.org_news_2014_12_18_leaked-2Dinternal-2Dcia-2Ddocument-2Dadmits-2Dus-2Ddrone-2Dprogram-2Dcounterproductive&d=BQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=3xd2IghJOg9HgL1JpT6dxz2wPHea12VmOrB4VnM9yHE&s=5Bc7Mf9G20dQh_c6REIQT_5TfgUquiWeyLNMwtV_ph0&e=>, 
which finds its own drone program "counterproductive."
--Admiral Dennis Blair, the former director of National Intelligence 
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__politics.salon.com_2011_10_03_petraeus-5Fprojection_singleton&d=BQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=3xd2IghJOg9HgL1JpT6dxz2wPHea12VmOrB4VnM9yHE&s=bwUxh00i5nFW7JK-8n4FjGAuJVwPLSMzW9GQysJ5IMU&e=>: 
While âdrone attacks did help reduce the Qaeda leadership in 
Pakistan,â he wrote, âthey also increased hatred of America.â
--Gen. James E. Cartwright 
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__warisacrime.org_lesssafe&d=BQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=3xd2IghJOg9HgL1JpT6dxz2wPHea12VmOrB4VnM9yHE&s=ajWGvvLYcmBM1bMDQkAatEBitoTwXiVyLOZDfCkXwtc&e=>, 
the former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: "Weâre seeing 
that blowback. If youâre trying to kill your way to a solution, no 
matter how precise you are, youâre going to upset people even if 
theyâre not targeted."
--Sherard Cowper-Coles, Former U.K. Special Representative To 
Afghanistan 
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.guardian.co.uk_world_2011_may_25_afghanistan-2Dtactics-2Dprofoundly-2Dwrong-2Dambassador&d=BQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=3xd2IghJOg9HgL1JpT6dxz2wPHea12VmOrB4VnM9yHE&s=JAQPIN-NqhGWG25tZk00xrrPUEnsqQ8vqJrazngyEsU&e=>: 
"For every dead Pashtun warrior, there will be 10 pledged to revenge."
--Mathew Hoh 
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__warisacrime.org_lesssafe&d=BQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=3xd2IghJOg9HgL1JpT6dxz2wPHea12VmOrB4VnM9yHE&s=ajWGvvLYcmBM1bMDQkAatEBitoTwXiVyLOZDfCkXwtc&e=>, 
ex-Combat Vet, Top Civilian Official in Afghanistan Province: "I think 
we're engendering more hostility. We're wasting a lot of very good 
assets going after midlevel guys who don't threaten the United States or 
have no capacity to threaten the United States."
--General Stanley McChrystal 
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.rollingstone.com_politics_news_17390_119236&d=BQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=3xd2IghJOg9HgL1JpT6dxz2wPHea12VmOrB4VnM9yHE&s=AArYBR1u9b8XLGZ2Sln0MTMg4nz4dcGD5cP3--VcKAQ&e=>: 
"For every innocent person you kill, you create 10 new enemies/."/

Afghanistan need not be "abandoned." The United States owes Afghanistan 
reparations in the form of significant actual aid, the cost of which 
would of course be less than that of continuing the war.

The horror of the recent hospital attack attracted disproportionate 
attention, but horrific attacks are the mainstay of this war. This war 
was begun illegally and without U.N. authorization. The motivation of 
revenge for 9-11 is not a legal justification for war, and also ignores 
the Taliban's offer to have bin Laden face trial in a third country. 
This war has killed many thousands of Afghans, tortured and imprisoned, 
wounded and traumatized many more. The top cause of death among members 
of the U.S. military who have gone to Afghanistan is suicide. Continuing 
this madness should not be allowed to be depicted as reasonable and 
cautious. It is criminal and murderous. A third U.S. president should be 
given no opportunity to continue "ending" this war for additional years.

End it now.

SIGNED BY:
David Swanson

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-- 

*David Swanson *is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He 
is director of WorldBeyondWar.org 
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__WorldBeyondWar.org&d=BQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=3xd2IghJOg9HgL1JpT6dxz2wPHea12VmOrB4VnM9yHE&s=g5Yhhr77-mh3X9sUtZxk80gHRkssRE6v2yOti-j2f_0&e=> 
and campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org 
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__RootsAction.org&d=BQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=3xd2IghJOg9HgL1JpT6dxz2wPHea12VmOrB4VnM9yHE&s=JsefRrXrn6HQkFva9CKTb8F2ikTd5WG8aCZzqC9xnk0&e=>. 
Swanson's books include /War Is A Lie 
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__warisalie.org_&d=BQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=3xd2IghJOg9HgL1JpT6dxz2wPHea12VmOrB4VnM9yHE&s=3Dt1pBFr0cYMWcRYmi-b6NHCcECtxjk1codanAbC_SM&e=>/. 
He blogs at DavidSwanson.org 
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__davidswanson.org_&d=BQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=3xd2IghJOg9HgL1JpT6dxz2wPHea12VmOrB4VnM9yHE&s=ubKvYSj26ykxRKEgMtRgcUl1QmynfAXRCIUe21Z9WJg&e=> 
and WarIsACrime.org 
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He hosts Talk Nation Radio 
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__davidswanson.org_taxonomy_term_41&d=BQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=3xd2IghJOg9HgL1JpT6dxz2wPHea12VmOrB4VnM9yHE&s=mYlqokgHmMBkoTL9Wev5lsvMyW7WWRtVkupeVDxcPI4&e=>.**He 
is a 2015 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee 
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__davidswanson.org_node_4682&d=BQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=_iuwmBDMEAIAz6k1h--JVoji6x5mlDiImSbbdIp2zWg&m=3xd2IghJOg9HgL1JpT6dxz2wPHea12VmOrB4VnM9yHE&s=fzXiT8AnI5NVy5mWGjxRg-K0sUbJk0Xs6ahQVjYLr_8&e=>.

Follow him on Twitter: @davidcnswanson 
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