Washington: Arguing that continuation of the
Afghan conflict is not in the interest of America, an US lawmaker has demanded that the Obama Administration should
withdraw its troops from Afghanistan.
"Today is the 2,950th day of this war (in Afghanistan).
It has cost us USD 300 billion; USD 3,947 per American family.
Enough is enough. It is time to bring our troops home,"
Congressman Eric Massa, said in his speech on the floor of the
US House of Representative.
Massa said, "... the deployment of additional troops in
Afghanistan and the continuation of this conflict is both not
in the interest of our Nation, and, in fact, is on par with a
potential error the size of our initial invasion in Iraq.
Referring to the recently concluded Afghan presidential
election, Massa said it has "underscored the fact that we will
never create a Jeffersonian democracy" in that nation.
"After Hamid Karzai had about one-third of his ballots
thrown out due to election fraud, his opponent withdrew from
the coming election because he stated publicly there could not
be a scenario under which he could trust the election
process," he said.
"A continued escalation of this conflict to do things
like secure elections and build an Afghan national identity is
a false and foolish waste of American lives and treasure.
The Congressman from New York said the US military should
not be expended to secure elections, nor should it continue to
engage in global nation building.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, November 05, 2009, 23:20