A bipartisan collection of lawmakers marked the 10th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan Thursday by calling for an immediate end to combat operations.
“On this issue they are moving really slow and are way behind on understanding what the American people want,” Rep. Ron Paul said during a press conference. “We need to wake up. We need to obey the law which says that we shouldn’t go to war without a declaration. The sooner we come around to that belief the better we’ll be for this country.”
Paul spoke on behalf of young Americans who “overwhelmingly oppose to what we are doing.”
Rep. Jim MRcGovern (D-MA) emphasized the economic benefits of winding down the war, explaining “there is no better way to reduce our deficit.”
While the U.S. accomplished the goal of eliminating the Taliban from power early on in the war, the goal of remaking Afghanistan by sending in “tens of thousands of Americans..is a strategy that would not have worked in the beginning and will not work now,” said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.).
Rohrabacher announed the proposal of a bill that would require us to withdraw our troops immediatley from Afghanistan and work with Afghanistan to make sure that “radical Islam” does not retake the country.
Several representatives implored Americans to call Congress and the White House and demand an end to the war.
1,780 servicemen have been killed and three to six trillion dollars have been spent over the past ten years in what amounts to the longest war in American history.