Congressman Eric Massa Calls For A Conclusion To The War In Afghanistan

Press Release

Late last night, Rep. Eric Massa went to the floor of the House of Representatives and called for a conclusion to the war in Afghanistan. Rep. Massa, a Naval Academy graduate who retired after 24 years of service, now serves on both the House Armed Services and the Homeland Security Committees, marked the 2,950th day of the war in Afghanistan, November 4th, with a call to take our nation in a new direction.

"Enough is enough," said Rep. Eric Massa. "We have achieved our original stated goal in Afghanistan, which was to capture or kill those who did or would do us harm. We have been in Afghanistan more than five times as long as World War I and more than twice as long as World War II. Right now we have spent or committed $300 billion on this effort, which breaks down to about $101 million per day over 2,950 days. Another way to calculate this cost is about $3,947 for each and every American family of four."

"I have spent many late nights drawing upon my experience from 24 years in the United States Navy and have reached the inevitable conclusion that our presence in Afghanistan, which has cost the lives of 912 American troops, and wounded 4,198 - not counting the thousands of internal wounds that we will see for years to come - must come to conclusion. After watching 1/3 of Hamid Karzai's ballots thrown out due to voting fraud, it became as plain as day that we cannot force a Jeffersonian Democracy upon the people of this nation. It is time for us to refocus our efforts and bring this war in Afghanistan to a swift conclusion.

"The future of Afghanistan is in the hands of the Afghan people. Should terrorist forces reemerge we will reserve the right to identify, locate, capture or kill those who would do us harm, but an indefinite war of attrition and nation building is not an option."

Source