CFPA on Afghanistan

Now in its 10th year, the Afghanistan War has become the longest war in United States history. The financial and human costs of this war are tremendous: as of 2011, there are 1,384 US casualties. As of the end of September, 2010 the total cost of the war had totaled to $366 billion, nealy $2,500 per household. Meanwhile, approval of US involvement had dropped dramatically in Afghanistan, and the United states has become mired in a complex civil war that was taking place long before its presence in the country. In light of these problems with the current policy, CFPA calls for a systematic withdrawal plan from Afghanistan, an ending of violence against Afghan civilians, a curtailing of the poppy trade, support for negotiations to stabilize the region , and an increase in humanitarian and development aid.

 

---

CFPA Campaign Timeline

• November, 2011: Republican Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick, from the 8th district of PA (mostly Bucks County), who previously declined to oppose the Afghanistan War, takes public position advocating immediate US withdrawal after intense campaign, with petitions, post cards, lobby visist, and demonstrations, led by CFPA's Bucks County chapters.

• October 7, 2011: CFPA holds a Rally & Protest on the 10th Anniversary of the Afghanistan War at the Trenton State House Steps. The rally is attended by 75 people and receives front page coverage from the Trenton Times, along with articles in several other area newspapers. In solidarity with the peace movement, activists from Occupy Trenton join the rally. At 4:30 that same day, CFPA's Buxmont chapters hold a vigil on the Morrisville side of the Trenton Makes bridge, and also receive local media coverage.

• September, 2011: CFPA hosts a series of five presentations by A Ride Till The End, a group of bicyclists comprised of Afghanistan War veterans, artists, and activists, during the month of September. The group's tour began in New York City on September 11 and will conclude in Washington, DC on October 6th at the anti-war protests. The goal of their tour is to promote peace and healing as well as collect bicycles for returning veterans from Afghanistan.

• January 18, 2011: CFPA hosts a talk by Matthew Hoh, former Marine captain who resigned from his position out of protest against the Afghanistan War. 50 people come to hear Mr. Hoh's speech and ask questions about US policy in Afghanistan. Click here to see the front-page Trenton Times article and photo; click here to read the full Trenton Times coverage.

• March, 2011: CFPA attends a rally day hosted by the Friends Committee on National Legislation to lobby in support of ending the Afghanistan War.

• October 7, 2010: CFPA holds a peace vigil on the 9th anniversary of the Afghanistan War.

• March 18, 2010: CFPA, along with Princeton Seminairans, host an annual teach-in on the Afghanistan with Peter Dale Scott, a former Canadian diplomat and English professor at Berkeley University. Dr. Scott spoke primarily about the connections between the Afghanistan War and the global drug trade.

• February 24 & 26, 2010: CFPA holds a series of commemoration vigils mourning the 1,000

  th death of a US soldier in Afghanistan.

• December 2, 2009: CFPA co-sponsors an emergency protest in Atlantic City against Obama's escalation of the Afghanistan War.

• October 21, 2009: CFPA hosts a talk by David Wilman, the executive secretary for Human Rig

  hts & Racial Justice with the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church. David has visited Afghanistan several times since 2004, and gave ou

  r group a first-hand account of his experience in the country.

• October 14, 2009: CFPA co-sponsors a lecture on Afghanistan led by Dr. Nagesh Rao at The College of New Jersey. Dr. Rao's lecture focused primarily on why the US has come to occupy Afghanistan and the consequent effects of the occupation on citizens of both countries.

• October 17, 2009: CFPA co-sponsors a march and rally against the Iraq and Afghanistan wars at Independence Mall in Philadelphia.

• March 29, 2009: As part of an ongoing effort to more deeply understand the conflict in Afghanistan (and the best way for the US to achieve its goals in that troubled region), the Coalition for Peace Action held an informational session on Afghanista

  n. Six speakers - experts, Peace Corps volunteers, cultural experts - presented fascinating and illuminating discussions of various aspects of the situation and conflict in Afghanistan.

---

Resources

• "Retiring Envoy to Afghanistan Exhorts US to Heed Its Past," New York Times

• "Difficult Days Ahead in Afghanistan and at Home," Peace Action Blog

• "Room for Debate: Should the US Leave Afghanistan Now?" New York Times

• "Americans' Support For Afghan War Drops Sharply, Poll Finds" New York Times

• "US Officials Debate Speeding Afghan Pullout," New York Times

• "Peace Group Calls for U.S. Withdrawal After Army Sergeant Kills 16 Afghan Civilians," Democracy Now!

• "Deadly Protests Over US Koran Burnings May be Turning Point for US Occupation," Democracy Now! with Jason Wendle of Time Magazine
  
• "Democracy Now!" Interview with Michael Hastings on Lt. Col. Davis's report "Truth, Lies and Afghanistan"

• "In Afghan War, Officer Becomes a Whistle-Blower," Scott Shane, NY Times

• "Truth, Lies and Afghanistan" by Lt. Col. Daniel Davis

• "Let's Not Linger in Afghanistan" by Jeff Merkley, Rand Paul and Tom Udall

• "Democracy Now!" Interview with Matthew Hoh on the death of Osama bin Laden and US policy in Afghanistan

• Summary and status of HR 651, a Status of Forces Agreement for withdrawal from Afghanistan

• "Moving Toward an Afghan Endgame" by Jeffrey Laurenti

• "Settling the Afghan War" by Lakhdar Brahimi and Thomas R. Pickering

• A report from New America Foundation on A New Way Forward. (Good summary here, and a more skeptical look here.)

• End the Afghanistan War! Web site, geared around October 7-10, 2010,  efforts to mark the 9th anniversary of the War, including a useful toolkit.

• Former presidential adviser and professor of history William R. Polk on "Elements of a U.S. Strategy Toward Afghanistan."

• "The Afghanistan War Is Mainly About Pakistan and India," explains Fred Kaplan in Slate.

• Christopher Layne, writing in the Chicago Tribune, notes "Petraeus' Dubious Strategy in Afghanistan."

• Steven Metz of the Strategic Studies Institute on "America's Flawed Afghanistan Strategy."

• Nir Rosen, writing in Boston Review, looks at the U.S. Strategy in "Something for Nothing." Commentary here.

• A television interview with Rev. Bob Moore about US policy in Afghanistan.

• President Barack Obama's December 1, 2009 speech on Afghanistan at West Point (prepared remarks).

• War in Afghanistan fact sheet. (from CFPA).

• George Will (conservative columnist) calls for the US to get out of Afghanistan. "Time to Get Out of Afghanistan" Tuesday, September 1, 2009 -- Washington Post.

• "The Irresistible Illusion" by Rory Stewart in the London Review of Books lays out the illogic of the war.

• Watch the trailer for the movie Rethink Afghanistan.

• Rebecca Griffin of Peace Action West examines five standard objections and makes convincing rebuttals in A Message to Progressives Who Are Ambivalent About Afghanistan.

• "Sustainable Security in Afghanistan: Crafting an Effective and Responsible Strategy for the Forgotten Front," Center for American Progress (Lawrence Korb, Caroline Wadhams, Colin Cookman, Sean Duggan), March 24, 2009

• "Losing the People: The Costs and Consequences of Civilian Suffering in Afghanistan" Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict, 2009.

• Petition for President Obama to end the war in Afghanistan. Peace-Action Petition.

[Got a resource on Afghanistan? Send us a recommendation and a link!]