Tonight I write as one citizen, asking every single member of the House and the Senate, please hear the voice of the strong majority of Americans who voiced their opinions loud and clear last November, and continue to do so…..in increasing numbers….day by day and week by week – This war is not winnable.
It is clear this war must end. The only question to be answered is – how soon?:
As much as we all hate to say it, the U.S. cannot win this conflict – it is lost. We must end it!
END THIS WAR NOW!
You know it in your heart Senator….You know it in your soul Congressman.
You are simply looking for some graceful way to get out.
There is no graceful way out!
When the president launched his “surge” plan, overriding the advice of his own generals and the iraq Study Commission, the argument was that we needed to give it enough time to see whether it would work. Three months, many said.
It is now 4 months since the start of the "surge."
Now the argument is that we are just getting the troops in place. Give it more time. Give it until September.
September is four months away…another third of a year. Two-thirds of a year will have gone by since the start of the “surge,” even though its supporters said we would know if it works in less than half that time.
Ask yourself:
“If I vote to wait until September, can I honestly say to myself and my constituents right NOW that I think there is even a 50-50 chance that things will be better by that time?”
Then ask, “Once we get to September, will we really pull the plug or will we ‘give it more time’?”
If you vote to maintain current troop and combat levels for another four months, can you honestly say to yourself and your consituents, once that time comes, that all of THIS was justified (based on current levels of death and injury to our troops alone):
o As many as 400-500 more dead soldiers – many of whom are or will be serving third and even fourth tours of duty due to chronic shortages of manpower.
o As many as 2,500 or more seriously wounded soldiers – many suffering from serious brain injuries and loss of one or more limbs.
o The destruction of families due to divorce, loss of a parent, suicides, drugs and alcohol.
o The massive weakening of our National Guard structure and the clear weakening of our domestic ability to respond to crises in your home states and districts during times of flood, hurricane and tornado.
o Countless thousands more of our troops developing major levels of post -traumatic stress disorder and “bunker mentality” with warnings from experts that current battlefield conditions raise the strong possibility of major war crimes and atrocities committed by combat soldiers stretched beyond their limits.
o The continued weakening of our nation’s military structure including recruitment of substandard troops to keep up numbers.
o Lack of sufficient and proper military equipment.
o A military force now demonstrably unable to react in the event another serious threat to the nation were to arise in another part of the world.
o The expenditure of tens of billions more dollars in immediate outlays to pay for the next four months of combat and troop support alone.
o The further weakening of critically important strategic alliances with other democratic nations around the world.
o The obligation to spend literally hundreds of billions of additional dollars over the next several decades in veterans’ medical treatment alone to the tens of thousands of soldiers who have and are serving in this conflict and whose injuries – both physical and mental – are among the most sustained we have ever endured due to the nature of the fighting and the weapons and tactics being used.
Regardless of your party, you ran for your office with some degree of commitment to service and to doing what is right to strengthen and to defend our nation and to make life better for its citizens.
Now you are facing one of the most difficult sets of decisions you will have to make in your entire political career – whether to support additional months of combat with little more than a hope that it will produce an “honorable way out” or even, as some still claim, “a victory.”
Ask yourself honestly right now where you truly think we will find ourselves four months from now.
o Is it not time…..time to finally admit to yourself, your constituents and to the nation that we are trying to control a civil war in a country whose language and culture we barely understand?
o Time to admit that after a longer period of combat than all of World War II, the toll of dead and injured is increasing, and not diminishing?
o Time to admit that our presence in Iraq is making things worse and not better and is serving as the primary recruiting tool for terrorists?
o Time to admit that we cannot “win” militarily…..that we need to re-establish working relationships with our allies and talk to our enemies to find a true solution to this ethnic and religious conflict?
o Time to admit what you know deep down….that we entered this war based on lies and we are continuing it based on delusions and vague hopes?
Please Congress….tonight….tomorrow…this week…maybe this month…..vote to shut this war down.
Do not vote for additional months of combat with no real plan.
Do not vote for more deaths and injuries with no reason.
Listen to America…..they know the right course, but only you can make it happen. We are begging you…..each of you….all of you……
STOP THIS WAR………NOW!!!!!!