Veterans oppose troop increase in Afghanistan

     One day President Obaama escalates an unwinnable war, the next he accepts the Nobel Peace Prize.

President Barack Obama’s decision to send 30,000 more American troops to Afghanistan was announced a mere nine days before he accepted the international peace prize in Oslo. When America’s commander in chief talked about winning the award, he said it was a "call to action."

Obama has taken action – but not toward peace.

So far, nearly 850 American troops have died in Afghanistan. October was the deadliest month so far with 74 deaths. More than 600 soldiers from other coalition nations have also died. These numbers will sadly rise in the coming months with the President’s proposed escalation.

And Afghans will die too, creating more hatred against America and its soldiers. More than 2,100 Afghan civilians were killed in armed conflict last year alone. That’s a 40 percent increase from the year before. Distressingly, 39 percent of the dead were killed by coalition and Afghan forces.

How many more people have to die for peace? The president didn’t answer that question in his speech. Another unanswered question: Where is the money coming from?

Sen. John Kerry, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, estimates that the war has so far cost American taxpayers some $243 billion. While our economy is struggling, the White House estimates this new troop surge will cost an additional $30 billion a year.

Imagine what the cost of sending more troops to Afghanistan could do if it wasn’t spent on war.

But the White House is not interested in developing Afghanistan. On MSNBC recently, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said, "This will not be nation-building." I and many other veterans believe Afghans should be given a chance to escape from the extreme poverty that they’ve endured for decades. Sending in more troops won’t help.

Furthermore, our military is over-taxed and at its breaking point. The vast majority of troops the President will deploy to Afghanistan have already endured multiple tours of duty there or in Iraq. More than 100,000 troops remain in Iraq. Now, we’ll have 100,000 service members in Afghanistan within six months. Our veterans and military families have made inexplicable sacrifices for this doomed war policy and should not be asked to do more.

We also need to prepare for their return home. Our government is not ready. We have already seen months-long waiting lists for care and delayed GI bill payments from the overwhelmed Department of Veterans Affairs.

I work with veterans everyday and have seen the dire effects of post traumatic stress disorder and other serious health consequences of war. Our veterans are not receiving the medical care they deserve. With more troops being sent to the frontlines now in Afghanistan, some even before Christmas, we need to be prepared to treat our veterans with the respect and dignity they deserve after serving their country.

U.S. Marine Corps veteran Rick Reyes deployed to Afghanistan in 2001 as an infantryman. Reyes, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, went back to the war-torn nation late this year to meet with locals and non-governmental organizations and to understand better what is currently happening in the country.

Reyes wrote on his return that Afghanistan’s tribal elders will "suppress and eventually eliminate the Taliban and not allow safe havens for Al Qaeda because they know it’s what their country needs."

The president said he wants American troops out of Afghanistan within three years. This is unrealistic. According to some estimates, nearly sixty percent of adult men and over eighty percent of women in Afghanistan are illiterate. This will inevitably slow the rebuilding process.

"We are at a stalemate with no chance of a military success," Reyes added. "We need to withdraw on our own terms rather than running from complete defeat as the Soviets did."

Obama calls the fight in Afghanistan a "war of necessity." I and many of my fellow veterans disagree. We’re not alone in our disapproval of the war.

A CNN poll conducted in mid-November found two-thirds of Americans think things are "going badly" for the United States in Afghanistan. That’s an 11 percent increase in dissatisfaction with the war since a March poll also conducted by CNN.

We protested the escalation outside of West Point and the anti-war community is held events in 42 cities to condemn the president’s decision. [That was in the dead of Winter, imagine how energized the Pro-Peace movement will be come Spring 2010, especially if media polls begin to reflect American public opinion taking it to the streets. The ideal scenario would be that fiscal conservatives and Libertarians begin allying with the Pro-Peace movement as long as they manage to keep opposition against the war(s) separate from opposition to the troops. Thus far, everyone across the political spectrum has been united in one lesson learned from Vietnam, that is the fact that it is TABOO to blame our troops given there is NO DRAFT! That at lease is one great point about not having the draft chances are the American people will NOT turn on our troops this time round. VT.Ed.]

We urge all Americans, especially Veterans and active-duty service members, and Military Famiies to speak out against the war in Afghanistan. Call your elected representatives and tell them not to fund the war. Talk about the real costs – fiscal, as well as physical and mental — so that people are aware of what this escalation really means for our troops and our nation.

Iraq Veterans Against the War calls on Obama to end the war in Afghanistan (and Iraq) by withdrawing troops immediately and unconditionally. It’s not time for our brothers and sisters in arms to go to Afghanistan. It’s time for them to come home.
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Posted By: ROBERT L. HANAFIN, Major, U.S. Air Force-Retired, Editorial Board Member, VT News Network

Robert L. Hanafin

Readers are more than welcome to use the articles I’ve posted on Veterans Today, I’ve had to take a break from VT as Veterans Issues and Peace Activism Editor and staff writer due to personal medical reasons in our military family that take away too much time needed to properly express future stories or respond to readers in a timely manner.

My association with VT since its founding in 2004 has been a very rewarding experience for me.

Retired from both the Air Force and Civil Service. Went in the regular Army at 17 during Vietnam (1968), stayed in the Army Reserve to complete my eight year commitment in 1976. Served in Air Defense Artillery, and a Mechanized Infantry Division (4MID) at Fort Carson, Co. Used the GI Bill to go to college, worked full time at the VA, and non-scholarship Air Force 2-Year ROTC program for prior service military. Commissioned in the Air Force in 1977. Served as a Military Intelligence Officer from 1977 to 1994. Upon retirement I entered retail drugstore management training with Safeway Drugs Stores in California. Retail Sales Management was not my cup of tea, so I applied my former U.S. Civil Service status with the VA to get my foot in the door at the Justice Department, and later Department of the Navy retiring with disability from the Civil Service in 2000.

I’ve been with Veterans Today since the site originated. I’m now on the Editorial Board. I was also on the Editorial Board of Our Troops News Ladder another progressive leaning Veterans and Military Family news clearing house.

I remain married for over 45 years. I am both a Vietnam Era and Gulf War Veteran. I served on Okinawa and Fort Carson, Colorado during Vietnam and in the Office of the Air Force Inspector General at Norton AFB, CA during Desert Storm. I retired from the Air Force in 1994 having worked on the Air Staff and Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon.