OR-Sen: Jeff Merkley (D) Pushes President Obama To End The War In Afghanistan

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Senator Jeff Merkley (D. OR) has joined Senators Sherrod Brown (D. OH) and Rand Paul (R. KY) in urging President Obama to end the war in Afghanistan: http://www.albanytribune.com/...

In their letter to President Barack Obama, the Senators urge the President to consider a plan to redeploy the majority of U.S. troops as quickly as possible, while fully protecting the safety of the remaining troops during this transition. Also in the letter, the Senators pressed that after 2014, troop levels should be set at the minimum necessary to pursue a limited counter-terrorism mission and assist in training the Afghan National Security Forces.     “Mr. President, our valiant men and women have fought bravely in Afghanistan for over a decade.  But after twelve years of conflict, it is time to bring our troops home,” the Senators wrote. “We urge you to heed the wishes of the majority of Americans by bringing our sons and daughters home safely and swiftly, and, in doing so, ending America’s longest war.” Senators Merkley and Paul led an effort last December to include language in the National Defense Authorization Act that called for a swift and responsible end to the war in Afghanistan. - Albany Tribune, 3/21/13

Here's the letter Merkley, Brown and Paul sent to the President: http://www.merkley.senate.gov/... The Honorable Barack Obama President of the United States The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President: We are writing to express our support for your decision to begin a swift and orderly end to U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan. In your recent State of the Union address, you announced that 34,000 of our service members will come home in the next year.  We applaud you for this decision.  Your announcement is consistent with Section 1226 of the National Defense Authorization Act, which endorses a transition of the security lead to the Government of Afghanistan by mid-summer 2013, while drawing down U.S. troops consistent with this goal. It also states that the United States should end all regular combat operations by not later than December 31, 2014, and take all possible steps to end such operations at the earliest date consistent with a safe and orderly draw down of U.S. troops in Afghanistan. In the next few months, you and senior military leaders will make additional crucial decisions about the final phase of the conflict. These decisions include the pace of the drawdown during 2014, as well as the number of troops that will remain after December 31, 2014. We encourage you to consider a plan that redeploys the majority of U.S. troops as quickly as possible while fully protecting the safety of the remaining troops during this transition.  After 2014, we urge you to keep only as many troops necessary to pursue a limited counter-terrorism mission and assist in training the Afghan Nation Security Forces. Mr. President, our valiant men and women have fought bravely in Afghanistan for over a decade.  But after twelve years of conflict, it is time to bring our troops home.   In your inaugural address, you stated: “We, the people, still believe that enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war.”  The next few months present a genuine opportunity to fulfill this goal in a manner consistent with core U.S. national security interests. We urge you to heed the wishes of the majority of Americans by bringing our sons and daughters home safely and swiftly, and, in doing so, ending America’s longest war.

Late last year, the Senate overwhelming passed the Merkley Amendment to be included in the National Defense Authorization Act that calls for a speedier troop withdrawal in Afghanistan: http://news.firedoglake.com/...

The news here is that Merkley got a filibuster-proof majority for that measure, for the first time, with 12 Republicans and 50 out of 51 Democrats in support (Lieberman, of course, voted no; Wyden and McCaskill didn’t vote today). The 12 Republicans included: Brown (R-MA), Cochran (R-MS), Collins (R-ME), Corker (R-TN), Grassley (R-IA), Hoeven (R-ND), Lee (R-UT), Lugar (R-IN), Moran (R-KS), Paul (R-KY), Snowe (R-ME) Thune (R-SD), Toomey (R-PA) This matters because there’s been a consistent effort of late on the part of the Pentagon to roll back the commitment to end combat operations in Afghanistan after 2014, just as there was around Iraq when the deadline approached. Gen. John Allen and other military planners envision a counter-terrorism force in Afghanistan on an almost permanent basis. The Senate resolution, which I’ll put below, is a non-binding “sense of the Congress,” but it’s a sharp stick in the eye of the generals who want to prolong the war: (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress that the President should, as previously announced by the President, continue to draw down United States troop levels at a steady pace through the end of 2014; and end all regular combat operations by United States troops by not later than December 31, 2014, and take all possible steps to end such operations at the earliest date consistent with a safe and orderly draw down of United States troops in Afghanistan. - Firedoglake, 11/29/12

I thank Senator Merkley for his ongoing efforts to end America's longest war and bring our troops home.  The fact that Merkley was successful in getting a filibuster proof majority in the Senate with Senators from both parties to pass his amendment to withdraw forces from Afghanistan proves he is a successful Senator.  We need to keep him in the Senate so please donate to his to 2014 re-election campaign:

https://secure.actblue.com/...

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