October, 23 2017, 01:30pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Paul Kawika Martin, Peace Action, pmartin@peace-action.org
Gabe Murphy, Peace Action, gmurphy@peaceaction.org
WASHINGTON
In response to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's visit to Afghanistan and his call for a peace process that includes moderate members of the Taliban, Paul Kawika Martin, Senior Director for Policy and Political Affairs at Peace Action, who's traveled to Afghanistan, released the following statement:
"In an administration with a well-established bias towards military escalation, it's refreshing to hear someone call for dialogue and diplomacy. Trump's plan for Afghanistan, to 'fight to win,' is no plan at all, and neither is sending 4,000 more soldiers to fight in America's longest war. Perhaps realizing this, Secretary Tillerson rightly called for a multilateral peace process in Afghanistan that would include more moderate members of the Taliban, a necessary step to achieving any lasting peace.
"This type of commitment to diplomacy is also exactly what we need to defuse tensions with North Korea and Iran. Hopefully this time Trump will support his Secretary of State's call for diplomacy rather than telling him not to waste his time with talk. We simply cannot afford to continue paying the tremendous cost in lives and dollars that comes with waging endless war in Afghanistan."
Peace Action is the United States' largest peace and disarmament organization with over 100,000 members and nearly 100 chapters in 34 states, works to achieve the abolition of nuclear weapons, promote government spending priorities that support human needs and encourage real security through international cooperation and human rights.
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