President Obama last night announced token U.S. troop withdrawals from Afghanistan. He plans to remove 10,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan this year and 20,000 next year, leaving 70,000 U.S. troops, plus NATO allies and contractors making record profits, to fight on until 2014.
He continued to maintain the same old justifications for the war, saying that we’re there because of 9/11 and to get Al Qaeda. Offering no new diplomatic initiative, he continued to insist that the Taliban must surrender before it can enter talks.
He made clear that he intends to continue the drone attacks that are enraging the population of Pakistan, and carry on the U.S. role as the world’s policeman, albeit with “targeted strikes” rather than “large armies,” and with international allies.
Obama called for “nation building here at home” and investments in innovation, infrastructure and clean energy. But such enticing calls are likely to remain hollow; that giant sucking sound is our tax dollars being wasted on U.S. military spending in Afghanistan and around the world.
Despite our impatience, we take heart that the tide is turning. Today’s conversation is about how many troops to withdraw, not about how many to send, as it was only two years ago. The peace movement’s steady work to turn public opinion against the war is finding a receptive audience. In 2011, only 12% of the public opposed U.S. intervention in Afghanistan. Today, 64% see the war as not worth fighting. There is massive discontent in Congress over the Afghanistan and Libyan wars. The U.S. Conference of Mayors this week passed a resolution to Bring Our War Dollars Home.
The President wants to have it both ways. He knows that his supporters (and most independents and, increasingly, Republicans) hate this war. He knows the U.S. still has 14 million still unemployed, that state and local governments are cutting back essential services, and that 2/3 of U.S. corporations pay no federal taxes. He has not yet shown a willingness to take on the Pentagon and the military-industrial-Congressional complex that profits from war, but he can no longer completely ignore the people’s voice. We need to insist on a full and complete withdrawal from the disastrous Afghanistan war and on redirecting a significant chunk of the military budget to fund jobs, education, health care, and the environment.
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-- UFPJ Afghanistan Working Group