Published on Friday, November 6, 2009 by C-SPAN
Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) Calls for a Conclusion to the War in Afghanistan
On the 2950th day of the War in Afghanistan, Rep. Eric Massa went to the floor of the House of Representatives and called for an end.
© 2009 C-SPAN
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18 Comments so far
Show AllWar is a business.
CORP IS BORG
Bring America Back !!!!
****Congrats to Rep Massa for speaking Truth to the
Warmonger Powers that Be !!!!
****PLEASE, let us encourage Massa to keep up the great work, and spreading this word thru the corrupt Halls of
our Congress and Senate !!
***If He keeps His fortitude of Truth, Massa just might
make a darn good Vice Presidential Candidate for
President Kucinich !!!!
JUST DO IT !!!!
Eric already got his answer from the White House. Now, where are the other Democratic lawmakers who howled when President Bush proposed to send more troops to Iraq? Ah, they caved in to Bush eventually muttering all along "false play, false play". It evidently and as always only depends on whose ox you want to get gored.
The web of lies of the Obama administration is just as despicable as that of the Bush administration. The first troop addition of about 20,000 was justified to "insure safe and fair elections in Afghanistan". Why must they stay there now that the elections were neither safe nor fair and chances are that there never will be safe and fair "westernized" elections in that country? Earlier this year President Obama asked for supplementary funding for the war in Afghanistan and vowed that this would be the last time for "supplementation". Wrong! He is asking already for more supplemental funding to build the barracks, roads, and airstrips to accommodate the additional troops. President Obama stated that he would not send soldiers in harms way unless it was "absolutely necessary". Are the 30,000 plus absolutely necessary? According to McChrystal the answer is "yes but not enough" so expect more soldiers to be assigned to Afghanistan as the coming years go by with the incessant drumbeat for "s'more". In 2012 the election of a Republican president, should that happen, will make only a minor difference. The deployment of additional troops will be smoother and with much less "dithering" than today.
Brace yourself for an idiotic set of "goalposts" which must be reached at such-and-such-a-date both by the Afghan government and our military commanders. History has shown time-and-again that such "goalposts" are meaningless. Brace yourself for an equally vague and meaningless "exit strategy" which can be equally easily ignored as shown by the trial balloons floated on "leaving Iraq" by the Obama administration.
Do we Americans have a debt to the Afghan people whose country we f***ed up? Yes, but not by sending more troops to the country. When the civil war of Afghanistan eventually gets settled we must offer generous funding to the government in power, whether we like that government or not, to rebuild their country without the presence of our soldiers and unwanted contractor-leeches.
What will the hapless Nobel Peace Prize Committee say now? Or will they crawl under rocks? They are fast becoming the laughing stock of the world.
Crownsnest -- A common misconception --- the USA invaded Afghanistan during a civil war -------- no! there was a stable government which had defeated all rivals and imposed Sharia law and order and had international relationships. The Taliban was so much in control that they eliminated 90% of opium growing at the behest of the USA and UN.
Massa has the correct goal but is extremely naive if he thinks the USA gives a damn whether Afghanistan has democracy or prosperity. It is all about USA controll.
harvey wasserman
Good to see this. it's time to get out of where we never should have gotten in. every minute we spend there diminishes our chances to save this nation.
while we're at it, let's slash the whole military. it, above all, is what's killing our planet and our country.
Good. May he be followed by many other voices to stop the madness of war for elite profit.
Yes, he left out a lot and took a 100% America-centric view. But he was strong; he used his military experience as a credential, and he demanded the war end now. That's a lot.
Peace be upon him, so he can keep fighting.
It is not the Afghan oil line the U.S. is after. It is the natural gas they want to pipe from there to Texas. Bush had this planned and Karzi was a visitor while the idiot was still the Gov. of Texas. Bush and Cheney wanted to keep it out of the Russians and Chinese control. Check out where our troops are lined through Afghan and you will find the map for the gas line.
Yes, it is only American lives and money (borrowed) that he talks about but that seems to be the only argument that many so called "conservatives" and "centrists" seem to hear, and we need to break through that wall somehow. Like he said there is much more to say.
ok Massa. lots of money. lots of ambitious young assassins got killed. But not a word about all those murdered Afghans. And how many thousands are there? !0,000? 15,000??
do any usans care? apparently not.
goddammit those are all real people with real lives that have been cruelly killed by your troops. every one in the whole country is suffering from losing loved ones, or losing their own arms or legs or minds.
you want to try putting a dollar amount on that Massa? you Joe?
clark? anyone?
i didn't think so.
The first Afghan child killed by u.s. bombs was worth more than all those hundreds of billions of dollars massa is complaining about.
Right you are 'buelo, all of /afghanistan and everything is in it isn't worth one life, Afghani of American. All that is left to do is to purge the governments that are owned outright by the corporations who so love war. Massa has, at least, spoken out.
Keep writing and talking to all the people you can reach.
Go Massa!
Go where? He voted for the House resolution to condemn the Goldstone report.
q
All soldiers and contractors from all foreign soil.
This is but a suggestion of a start.
I wish he had mentioned the oil pipeline and poppies, but I also need to write a thank you note.
I agree. What about that pipeline?
search TAPI or piplineistan or any variatins thereof.It really is about $$$$$
~Some people live their whole lives without ever waking up~
I now have another thank you note to write. May there be many more.
Joe