The People's Email Network Last 25 Messages Transmitted Log Go Back No More Escalation In Afghanistan ********** [132352:081210] D.S., Seattle, WA We are creating more enemies every day. There is no good way out. It is time to just LEAVE! ********** [161454:062110] E.B., Stockton, CA And so, you too are supporting the Little Napoleons in their desire for war. We have run wars until our troops rebelled. We had one war in which our best generals were defeated by an opponent by a former private in the Marines {Somolia). Their principle problem is that we want to spend this money on our own people, not on playing bang! bang! in south Asia. If we are to find financial security, we must not blow our money away on these poorly run and unsuccessful wars. ********** [053929:011710] M.F., Houston, TX We are making things worse. And people are dying on all sides ********** [174659:011610] L.B., Houston, TX The war in Afghanistan is just getting us bogged down. We have not found Binladen. This war is hurting both our troops and innocent Afghani civilians. ********** [173828:011610] L.B., Houston, TX Our getting bogged down in the counterproductive wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is bad for both our security and the troops. The United States has harmed civilians when it sent drones which bombed wedding parties. ********** [085039:011310] j.e., New York, NY Get RID of Bush era WAR-MONGERS Gates, Betray-us, Mac Chrystal. There are generals who see through the farce of imperialism disguised as "war-on-terror". STOP the UN-CHRISITIAN murder abroad---we KNOW it is all about oil and empire. ********** [200654:011010] J.B., Easton, CT Remember Vietnam! We can't afford more of that. ********** [075952:010610] M.H., Fort Lauderdale, FL I believe some things are called acts of terrorism when they are predictable stress reactions. Fear of terrorism and the Afghan war have reduced personal freedom so people are acting out of frustration and accused of terrorism when they have tried to make people listen before they went crazy. Ft Hood is an example of someone who killed when he was told he had not choice in his Afghan deployment. He had a choice and made a horrible one after no one listened. We have to respect the humanity of people all over the world or people all over the world will come after the US. The Military lied to get Americans to support the war in Iraq and the Afghan War is worse. People are attacking the US more because they are angry that President Obama was given the Nobel Peace Prize and he is continuing the no win war. If President Obama had pressed charges against Bush for lying his way into this war the press would have someone else to feed on and President Obama could do his job better. Also the military would have to tell the truth and stop setting Obama up to fail in a war based on lies. The military has historically set up Democrats for failure by failing in military action. Jimmy Carter suffered from military sabotage and now Barack Obama is following the same bad advice. Look at history. You will see I am right. ********** [064847:010610] M.B., Waynesfield, OH They have been at war for centuries and will never stop we need to butt out of their business and take care of our own back yard. ********** [065547:010410] M.H., Carbondale, IL quote: Preventing terrorist attacks on the U.S. homeland has nothing to do with occupying vast tracts of land or winning the hearts and minds of backward villagers whom we falsely depict as surrogates of an evil empire, as we did in Vietnam and are now doing in Afghanistan. What is needed is smart police work to catch these highly mobile fanatics, and that begins with actually reading and then acting on the readily available intelligence data. It requires detectives with brains and not generals with firepower. ********** [110006:010310] m.a., Los Angeles, CA There should be no profit in Healthcare, prisons and Newspapers. if you are looking where the money goes, we need to follow the money. Who benefits from continued war? ********** [094740:123009] J.T., East Brunswick, NJ PLEASE STOP THE WAR OR WARS AND REMOVE ALL OUR TROOPS WHERE WE DONT NEED THEM AROUND THE WORLD AND FROM IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN IF POSSIBLE. FAST AND PRAY FOR PEACE. NO MEAT NO JUNK FOOD ETC. ********** [130133:122909] S.H., Burbank, CA Our current Afghanistan policy is not keeping us safe, but rather draining our coffers and making enemies. We need to wind down our presence in Afghanistan, not amplify it. We are proceeding in exactly the opposite direction of the one we should be taking. Empires die because they stretch themselves too thin, as in the cases of Rome and Great Britain. Take a lesson. ********** [093651:122909] N.L., Laytonville, CA I am deeply concerned about the amount of money we are spending on this war, which doesn't seem to be helping the Afghanistan people. We have many areas at home in the U.S. where these dollars would result in benefits for the American people. ********** [065915:122909] C.S., Smithfield, IL No matter what anyone says or does the middle eastern countries will war in the name of religion. It is like a cancer you believe you eradicate in one area that just spreads to another and before you realize it has come full circle. We need to stay out of the middle eastern wars. This war is just a way for a privileged few to make a lot of money and gain power. We are sacrificing humans not to protect America from terrorism but for nothing that will benefit the people of America especially those who lost loved ones in the war. ********** [182622:122709] M.M., Rochester, NY Please reconsider the Afghanistan action. ********** [060825:122709] a.p., New Orleans, LA We need a Peace Making group, small, to help with the rebuilding. I was there in the early 70's.... the people in Herat were in the 9th century... no power. How dare we dictate how they live. We are killing children and civilians. President Obama, it is time for our war economy to become a sustainable, pro-people economy. I live and work in the Lower 9th Ward, in NOLA. We need rebuilding. The Monday after your visit to my School, The Dr. King School, the City of New Orleans tore down the Senior Center across Caffin Ave. We were going to make that building our High School Campus. We are told that the City will build a Police Station and a Fire Station on that lot. These are our funds they are using. this is not our desire. There are 8,000 vacant lots in this neighborhood. We do not want a fire Station across the street from our school. These kinds of issues should be your first concern... not an ancient culture desirable for its proxcimity to oil. Did we make a mistake with you? Will you stand with the folks who voted you in? We are the Ones we have been waiting for.... and we will not follow you into this continued massacure... watch us... you have no idea who we are if you think we are asleep. I am deeply troubled by your war stance. What does your wife, Michelle, think about how you are doing? Are you walking a Path you want your children to follow? Namaste. Mr. President. Amelie Prescott ********** [215433:122609] J.L., Cambridge, ME TERRORIST=a believer ready to kill himself in order to kill anyone who does not believe as he believes. AMERICAN INFANTRY MAN=a person who joined the army in order to earn a living by serving his country in uniform. Pretty much how it be worded, there is a vast difference between the two. Finally, it may with some reason be assumed the terrorist will die trying to kill his enemy where ever he finds him, the American infantry will die trying to save the lives of his buddies and himself in combat. In Afghanistan, a Taliban fighter may be assumed to at the least believe in his village, his family, his place among them, find them all bodily threatened, and willing to die to defend them. At most, he might be fighting for his government, but that is pretty unlikely, knowing how corrupt and self-serving are government workers. He may easily be mistaken for a terrorist. In Afghanistan, an American infantry man may assumed to at the least be placed on foreign (to him) soil to achieve the foreign policy decisions of his president. It is very unlikely that he will ever feel himself, even less his home town or his family in any sense bodily in harms way. How can we finally rate the effectiveness of these two fighters? Technically, we know the American infantryman is at least equal to ten Taliban fighters, but even we say that the victory will be to "win the hearts and minds" of the people, and no amount of armament we can employ will do that. Who is closest to the hearts and minds of the Afghanistan people, the American soldier or the Taliban fighter? Finally, if only one percent of the Afghanies chooses to engage our American infantry man in the field, there will be at least 250,000 of them, how many of the 150,000 or so Americans we place on their soil will be committed to the field? At best, half, but probably far fewer. And the Taliban will be standing on their own lands, with no where else to go when a year is up, the American will be standing on foreign soil, and counting the months, if not the days, when he may go home. Who are you going to bet on? ********** [163503:122609] A.P., Glen Ridge, NJ America does not belong in Afghanistan, except to do the phenomenal work initiated by Greg Mortensen. Certainly not militarily, because that only guarantees us more implacable, bitter enemies. And not simply propping up Karzai's sorry excuse for legitimate government. It is appalling to project the waste over 30,000 human lives and $30 billion in this pointless exercise in pride, folly, or sheer stupidity. The military use of 30,000 personnel in truly humanitarian ways might make some sense but not if all they do is suffer needless hardship and cause further erosion of whatever goodwill exists between Afghanis and Americans. The productive expenditure of the $30 billion in building lives and opportunity for Afghanis would be acceptable. But simply to squander these lives and this money is criminal misuse of American resources. I urge you to "wind down" all military endeavors, starting immediately and finishing by the end of January 2010. ********** [110617:122509] A.A., Austin, TX I feel ashamed to be an Ameriican citizen. the vulgar arrogance of our government that was started with Bush, the zenith of mongoloid reasoning, is continuing. ********** [185724:122309] G.A., Sugar Land, TX Perhaps there is a real reason for our troops to be in Afghanistan. I can't imagine our President Obama lying to us as Bush and Cheney did. However, because everyone who is at all interested now knows that governments lie to their people, "we the people" of this former democracy want the truth and the whole truth from our government. If the whole truth will endanger our safety, then we have a right to know why and how. If they are searching for Bin Laden (?) then there must be a better way. All this becomes more and more important when we know that our intelligence people failed to act on intelligence reports that gave us time to prevent 9/11. Where is the truth? How do "we the people" get it? ********** [115947:122309] D.A., Miami, FL President Obama. I have supported you all the way and you have made some incredible promises and I still believe that you will make them good. But we do not need Nation Building, GET US OUT OF IRAQ, PLEASE DO NOT SEND MORE TROOPS TO AFGHANISTAN - FOCUS ON AMERICA AND OUR PROBLEMS. We cannot be the world's police and rebuild their mistakes. Take ACTION not talk. ********** [043723:122309] p.e., Spokane, WA There is no benefit whatsoever to the American people or the Afghan people for US troops to be in Afghanistan. Stop wasting our time, money, men and resources and get out. ********** [201758:122209] D.S., Santa Fe, NM Al Qaeda is no longer in Afghanistan. They have moved to Pakistan, Morocco, Germany, France and England. The Taliban is comprised largely of Pashtun, who comprise 43% of the population of Afghanistan and who are excluded from the present government. I do not like their policies, but they are fighting a civil war to regain some influence in national affairs. Traditionally, Afghan leaders are either the oldest people in the governmental unit or monarchs. The idea of electing a leader is not part of their culture. Only 10% of Afghans can read or write. Communication between most mountain villages is by foot travelers over very rudimentary paths. No radio or TV or newspapers in these areas. They regard all foreigners, including out troops, to be invaders and only, grudgingly, allowed Al Qaeda to exist there before we invaded because Al Qaeda provided some money to support the Pashtun civil war. ********** [125236:122209] G.L., Alma, GA Gail Landis ********** Go Back