[Peace-discuss] Can Cheryle Jackson End the War in Afghanistan?

[Stuart Levy]

On Tue, Jan 12, 2010 at 10:49:55AM -0600, Robert Naiman wrote:
> Add Illinois to Pennsylvania as states where there is a contested
> Senate primary in which the war in Afghanistan has become an issue.
> The Chicago Tribune reports that the two leading contenders for the
> Democratic nomination for Barack Obama's former seat in the Senate
> have staked out diametrically opposed positions. A Tribune poll last
> month reported that Alexi Giannoulias and Cheryle Jackson were the
> leading contenders for the Democratic nomination.
> 
> On Afghanistan, the Tribune reports that Cheryle Jackson wants to end
> the war, while Giannoulias supports it:
> 
> "It is time to take care of America again and time to bring our troops
> home," said Democratic Senate contender Cheryle Jackson, a former
> president of the Chicago Urban League. "Until we stop spending
> hundreds of billions on wars, we will not have the focus or money to
> solve the challenges we face at home."
> [...]
> But first-term state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, a Democrat, said he
> fully supported Obama's strategy for Afghanistan and indicated that
> those who oppose it are engaging in wishful thinking.
> 
> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/can-cheryle-jackson-end-t_b_420076.html
> 
> http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/1/12/824268/-Can-Cheryle-Jackson-End-the-War-in-Afghanistan
> 
> http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/node/446

It appears that IL Democratic Senatorial candidate David Hoffman
more or less supports the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan, too.

He spoke in Urbana on Saturday evening.  Asked about the wars,
he noted they'd been started on false pretenses; that he's glad
that our troops in Iraq will be coming home; and that he
opposes the sending of *additional* troops to Afghanistan
on the grounds that McChrystal is calling for a change of strategy,
from fighting terrorism to nation-building, which he opposes.   
Afghanistan has little tradition of strong central government and it's
fruitless to try to impose one.  He doesn't believe the "we need to
win hearts and minds" line, as being no more believable now
than it was 40 years ago [in Vietnam].

However Hoffman did say that the US needs to remain in
Afghanistan and Pakistan to "keep al Qaeda on the run".



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