Home » Ending the War in Iraq

From the start, the war in Iraq has been a disaster for America, damaging our moral standing in the world and serving as a painful reminder to Americans that too often the old ways of Washington stand in direct contradiction to the people’s best interests. In the over six years since the war began, countless hundreds of thousands of American, Iraqi, and coalition countries’ people have been killed and injured. In addition, the total toll on the American economy, by some estimates, has already exceeded approximately $3 trillion. 

Before the invasion in March of 2003, DFA members spoke out against the war, and in the years since, they have continued to do everything in their power to bring the troops home. Our members made phone calls and wrote letters to Congress, hosted screenings of films exposing the harsh reality of the Iraq war, wrote letters to editorial boards and on blogs, and generated progressive support in primary and general elections, all with the aim of facilitating a quick, responsible end to the Iraq conflict. 

In 2006 and 2008, DFA helped elect a new Democratic majority in Congress, laying the groundwork for demanding that America’s brave servicemen and women be brought home. In the 2008 Presidential election, DFA helped elect outspoken Iraq war critic and now President Barack Obama, decisively rejecting the Bush policy regarding Iraq. 

In February of 2009, President Obama stated unequivocally that American combat operations in Iraq will end no later than August 31, 2010. With this announcement, the long process of healing America’s wounds and restoring our moral standing in the world can begin, with Democracy for America members leading the way.

The war in Afghanistan was launched in October, 2001, as a response to the September 11^th terrorist attacks on America, and to ensure America’s safety from similar terrorist attacks in the future. The stated aims of the war in Afghanistan were to find Osama bin Laden and other high-ranking terrorists responsible for 9/11, destroy Al-Qaeda, and to remove the Taliban from political power in Afghanistan because of their policy of providing safe haven for Al-Qaeda.

However, in subsequent interviews with then-President Bush about the war in Afghanistan, he indicated that he was no longer concerned with the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden, and was confident that Al Qaeda was no longer active in Afghanistan. The Taliban no longer controls the Afghan government. Much of the power the Taliban has now is drawn from anti-occupational sentiment amongst the Afghan people, and a crippling infrastructural void which has left the people disenchanted with the current government.

The natural response from DFA members in the wake of these developments is to question what exactly America has in mind in increasing combat troop levels in Afghanistan. Then-Senator Obama, while campaigning for President, called the conflict in Afghanistan a “war of necessity”, and stated that “parts of Afghanistan are falling into the hands of the Taliban, and a mix of terrorism, drugs and corruption threatens to overwhelm the country.” As President, Obama has deployed additional troops with the stated goal to stabilize the country.

DFA members are not opposed to a stable, successful democracy in Afghanistan. What they are opposed to is unnecessary casualties and wasteful spending in a war that doesn’t make Americans any safer, but is actually putting Americans at risk by putting more troops in harm’s way and feeding anti-American and anti-occupational sentiment in the Middle East. By playing into the perception many of the world’s people have of America as an imperialist power, troop escalation and a prolonged occupation in Afghanistan work as one of Al Qaeda’s greatest recruiting tools.

For the cost of keeping just 1 soldier in Afghanistan for a year (which costs, by some estimates, $1 million), we could build in the range of 20 schools there, which would have a dramatically greater effect on immediate perceptions of America, long-term chances for democratic growth in Afghanistan, and would make U.S. troops and citizens safer than prolonged combat. In 2005, America spent $5 millionrenovating a women’s hospital in Kabul, which included the cost of rebuilding the hospital, training doctors there, and laying the groundwork for better healthcare options for Afghan citizens. Compare this to the $8 billion spent on the development of the military’s Comanche helicopter program, which was ultimately abandoned.

To remain committed to the principles of finding Osama bin Laden (who may not even be in Afghanistan anymore), destroying Al Qaeda, and keeping the Taliban from regaining control of Afghanistan, alternatives to military operations must be sought out which will place the responsibility for security and governance with the Afghan people, prepare them for that responsibility, ensure the safe return of American forces, and maintain the safety of the American people.