Largest Peace Group: Afghanistan Needs Transition Not Escalation

Peace Action, the nation's largest grassroots peace group, expressed
disappointment at the Obama Administration's announcement to send an
additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan beyond the extra 21,000 the
President approved earlier this year.

"30,000 more troops in Afghanistan will fail to substantially increase
security, to stop violent extremists and to make Americans safer. It's
time to transition from more military to investing in diplomacy,
development and economic stimulus that creates long-term stability in
the region," stated Paul Kawika Martin, the group's policy and
political director. Martin hoped that action will match the
President's words on increasing agricultural assistance in Afghanistan.

Polls have shown Americans increasing their opposition to the
Afghanistan war. Over one hundred cities are holding protests or
vigils today or tomorrow against troop escalation. According to the
website https://NoEscalation.org, nearly 80 Members of Congress oppose troop escalation and dozens more express skepticism.

The group said that starting to bring troops home in July of 2011 is
too long. Martin, who recently returned from a seven-day trip to the
country, added "until the Karzai government realizes that foreign
forces will leave, there is little impetus to engage in a comprehensive
peace process with internal Afghan power holders like the Taliban and
regional powers like Pakistan, India, Iran and China. It's only such a
process that will stop the decades of conflict that Afghans have
suffered."

With Americans still suffering from high unemployment, the organization
questioned whether the skyrocketing costs of war is paying security
dividends. Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard
professor Linda Bilmes claims that if you include interest on debt,
veterans benefits and other costs to society, then the total costs for
the Iraq and Afghanistan wars could top a staggering $5 trillion to $7
trillion.

"It would be far more economical and effective to invest in reducing
Afghanistan's 40% unemployment and 70% illiteracy rate and bring
Afghans out of poverty -- one of the root causes of violent extremism,"
concluded Martin.