U.S. Representative from Ohio's 10th District
Yesterday, the president announced that the U.S. signed a Strategic
Partnership Agreement with Afghanistan, committing the United States to
the country for a long time to come. The agreement addressed the
transition to Afghan-led security forces by 2014. Human and monetary
costs to the U.S. will continue to skyrocket.
According to a recent
article in
The Atlantic,
the U.S. spends an estimated $14,000 per Afghan troop per year. The
long-term costs to the U.S. to train the 352,000 Afghan security troops
we are counting on to allow the withdrawal of U.S. troops will be over
$4 billion per year; or more than $40 billion over the next 10 years.
The Associated Press recently
highlighted a
report that raises significant questions regarding International
Security Assistance Force claims that there have been Afghan-led
military operations, an indicator of progress toward Afghan military
self-sufficiency, a cornerstone of our strategy.
It is widely recognized that much of al Qaeda's leadership and
presence in Afghanistan has been decimated. Since the death of Osama bin
Laden exactly one year ago, we have lost 381 U.S. troops. The president
stated
that 'we must give Afghanistan the opportunity to stabilize.' The
assertion that maintaining a long-term presence in the country is the
best way to prevent future attacks on the U.S. belies the reality on the
ground: that our mere presence is destabilizing. The events of the past
few months alone -- the Koran burnings, coordinated attacks by the
Taliban in Kabul, and the killing of Afghan civilians by a U.S. solider
-- should be enough of an indication that more time in Afghanistan is
not the answer.
America has been lulled to sleep by the mind-boggling elongation of a
war seven thousand miles away. The plain fact is we are not exiting
Afghanistan, despite the appearances that the White House is trying to
create. We are staying. Have we learned nothing from 10 years of
quagmire? It is time to bring our troops home safely and responsibly.
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