[CitizensTruth] FW: 17,000 troops, but where is the plan?

[andrew ritter]

Subject: 17,000 troops, but where is the plan?
To: aroyboy44 at hotmail.com
From: alerts at peaceactionwest.org
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2009 12:49:20 -0500







17,000 troops, but where is the plan?





  
    
      
      
      


Peace Action West




 




 


 





  













 



 


We need a clear plan before risking more lives in Afghanistan. 
Please tell President Obama and Congress you want a new approach. 

     
 



















Dear Andrew,  

President Obama just announced that he will send another 17,000 troops to Afghanistan. 

Recent reports stated that President Obama was going to carefully deliberate and develop a new strategy for Afghanistan before putting more soldiers in harm’s way. The troops are heading out, but where is the new plan?

More troops won’t solve our problems in Afghanistan. Click here to tell President Obama and Congress that we need a comprehensive plan for Afghanistan before risking more American and Afghan lives.

We have seen
the disastrous consequences of heading into war without a plan in Iraq. We are still mourning American and Iraqi lives lost, and struggling to rehabilitate our economy while spending billions of dollars on war. 

Since the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, Al Qaeda has increased its attacks. Last year saw the most civilian deaths in Afghanistan since the US invaded, and a new poll shows that only 18% of Afghans want more US troops. Bombings of civilians in Afghanistan and Pakistan are angering the populations in both countries and their governments, undermining the US’s ability to create stability. We cannot simply intensify the Bush administration’s failed policy. Now is the time for us to press President Obama and Congress to find a better approach to Afghanistan.

An
authoritative report released last year demonstrated that military force has historically been unsuccessful in defeating terrorism [1]. Counterinsurgency experts have said that a military strategy would require hundreds of thousands of troops we can’t send, and even if we did there would be no guarantee of success. We have heard a lot about why we need to shift resources to Afghanistan, but we need to hear a lot more about what kind of resources would be truly effective. There are many other pieces of this puzzle—policing and intelligence, dealing with corruption in government, using regional diplomacy and carrying out reconstruction and humanitarian aid projects—that Congress and the administration need to consider before moving forward with a troop increase. Can you help us send this urgent message
today?

President Obama has demonstrated his inclination to be thoughtful and deliberate about his decisions.  He has also encouraged us to let him know in what direction we want to see our country heading. Up until now, there hasn’t been a push from the public for a new plan in Afghanistan; this is an urgent time to seize this role and let our government know we want a new approach.

Thank you for your urgent help.


  
P.S.  To read Peace Action West’s piece on The War in Afghanistan and Better Approaches to Ending Terrorism, click here.
 
 Footnote: 1. According to a RAND Corporation report, since 1968, only seven percent of all terrorist groups that have ended were
taken down by military force. In contrast, 40 percent of those groups were defeated through police and intelligence work, and 43 percent gave up terrorism as they were integrated into the political process. The framework of the "Global War on Terror" has set up unrealistic expectations of a military victory against non-state actors, and the apportioning of counterterrorism resources has reflected that flawed approach.
 









 This message was sent to you by:
 Peace Action West
 2201 Broadway, Ste 321 
 Oakland, CA 94612
 800.949.9020
 
 
 











      

      	 
    
  
  
     
  
  
    
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