[Peace-discuss] Johnson again backs pulling U.S. troops out of Afghanistan

[C. G. Estabrook]

     Johnson again backs pulling U.S. troops out of Afghanistan
     Fri, 11/19/2010 - 8:00am | The News-Gazette

WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson, R-Urbana, reiterated his support 
Thursday for withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan as soon as possible.

And he joined with at least 54 other House members to sign a letter 
opposing a troop presence there through 2014.

The letter, according to Johnson spokesman Phil Bloomer, is in response to 
comments earlier this week by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of 
State Hillary Clinton and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of 
Staff, citing the end of 2014 as the key date for turning over the defense of 
Afghanistan to the Afghan government.

"We've already lost 1,400 men and women there and more this year, some 
450 people, than any other of the nine years we've been there," Johnson said. 
"I doubt our country is any safer for the loss of life and expenditure of well 
over $1 trillion in tax dollars for wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"Afghanistan remains in chaos. The government remains inept and corrupt. 
We're experiencing more casualties than ever before and only inflaming the 
country by our mere presence. Civilian casualties number in the tens of 
thousands."

Johnson said Afghanistan "doesn't have an exclusive haven for terrorists who 
wish us harm" and said "there are smarter, more effective ways of containing 
them than the conventional strategies being employed in Afghanistan."

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19/johnson-again-backs-pulling-us-troops-out-afghanistan.html