Yesterday, Congressman James McGovern, a Democrat representing the 3rd congressional district in Massachusetts, introduced a bill that would require a withdrawal of the American military from Afghanistan.
Among the justifications the bill cites in favor of withdrawal:
- 200 billion dollars of deficit spending as a result of the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan so far
- Much of American spending in Afghanistan has supported corruption rather than reform
- One fifth of soldiers returning from Afghanistan suffer from mental disorders
- Al Quaeda’s havens in Pakistan have not yet been compromised, in spite of years of efforts
The bill, H.R. 5015, would require President Obama to submit a plan for withdrawal from Afghanistan. The plan would be due on January 1, next year. The withdrawal could begin later. The bill would also require increased oversight of the operations of military contractors in Afghanistan known to have been involved in corruption and the killings of Afghan civilians.
The following dozen members of the House of Representatives have cosponsored Representative McGovern’s bill:
Mike Capuano
John Conyers
Jane Harman
Timothy Johnson
Walter Jones
Dennis Kucinich
Barbara Lee
Ben Ray Lujan
Jerrold Nadler
Chellie Pingree
Kurt Schrader
Louise Slaughter
This whole “war” thing is SO not-working for us anymore. We aren’t winning hearts and minds when we try to force a government into a “democracy” at gun-point, shoot up innocent people in the process, and spend billions we don’t have on this fiasco.