Military Families Respond to Announcement of Increased Troop Deployments to Afghanistan

Military Families Speak Out, an
organization of over 4,000 military families opposed to the wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan, issued the following statement in
response to last night's speech by
President Obama regarding Afghanistan.

President Obama's decision to escalate the
war in Afghanistan by deploying another 30,000 troops has sent the message to
military families across the United States that the President is willing to
gamble in a no-win situation with the lives of our loved ones and the loved ones
of others. President Obama's surge of U.S. troops will not make the U.S.
safer, nor will it bring peace and stability to the Afghan people; it will add
more fuel to the fires now raging there. It will mean more deaths of military
personnel and of civilians. Sending more troops will not end this war; bringing
them home now will.

In the 9^th year of this conflict
it should be clear that there is no military solution. Military families do not
need more of our loved ones coming home in flag-draped coffins. New deaths will
not honor those who have already died, or their families. We know that the
increase in deaths we will see from this war escalation will not just come from
weapons like IED's and RPG's. Record breaking rates of suicide, Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder, Traumatic Brain Injury, depression, anxiety, and substance
abuse are the result of seemingly endless and pointless war.

We take no comfort from the goals and
objectives laid out in this war escalation strategy. What President Obama failed
to acknowledge are the ongoing impacts of this war on the Afghan people, on our
troops, and their families. We know the real outcomes of this strategy: the
growing numbers of family members here and in Afghanistan mourning for lost loved
ones, more families torn apart, and children crying for their parents'
return.

The only surge that we should be seeing now
is an immediate surge of troops homeward - with U.S. troops in both Afghanistan and Iraq
being brought home quickly and safely. Once home, our troops must receive the
care they need to begin healing from physical and psychological injuries of war
which have been heightened by their multiple and extended deployments.

With the Commander in Chief now having
embarked on a very wrong course of action in Afghanistan, it is incumbent upon
Congress to support our troops by refusing to fund the continuation and
escalation of this war, and the death and destruction it will bring. It is past
time for Congress to use their "power of the purse" to bring all of our troops
home now.

***Members of Military Families Speak Out,
including families with loved ones currently in Afghanistan or those facing
deployment or redeployment, along with members of Gold Star Families Speak Out
whose loved ones have died as a result of these wars, are now available for interview.***

To arrange for an
interview, contact Deborah Forter at Military Families Speak Out,
617-983-0710 or press@mfso.org For more information
about Military Families Speak Out, see https://www.mfso.org; for more
information about Gold Star Families Speak Out see https://www.gsfso.org.