Washington DC... Responding to President Barack Obama's announcement of an escalation and expansion of the military conflict in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) urged President Barack Obama to instead invest more heavily in regional diplomacy and improved assistance to strengthen civilian rule of law and stimulate development and peacebuilding.
Obama today announced his plans to send 4,000 additional troops to the country, on top of the 17,000 additional combat soldiers he had already committed to the war. He also reframed the Afghanistan war as a regional conflict and encouraged cooperation among neighboring countries, such as Pakistan, India, Iran, Russia, and China.
"President Obama's new strategy includes constructive commitments to regional and international diplomacy and civilian development," said Jim Fine, FCNL's legislative secretary on foreign policy. "But the president has also committed the U.S. to aggressive new military tactics and a wider war that could easily spiral out of control and overwhelm the constructive elements of his plan."
Escalation of war is not the answer to resolving the conflict in Afghanistan. As General David Petraeus has said, "You can't kill your way out of an insurgency." The United Nations, the international community, and key U.S. military leaders agree that there is no military solution in Afghanistan and that a long-term investment in diplomacy and development assistance is needed to lead to a comprehensive peace.
FCNL's February 18 letter to the president outlined seven recommendations for a new approach to the region. These included immediately ending aerial bombing and house raids, leading with diplomacy, investing in Afghan-led development and peacebuilding, and promoting security through civilian rule of law. FCNL also urges the U.S. government to increase funding for demining in Afghanistan, one of the countries most affected by these weapons.
FCNL joins with United for Peace and Justice in urging the administration to abandon its plans for more troops in Afghanistan and asking Congress to fund Afghan-led humanitarian development. FCNL encourages people around the country to engage in grassroots action, lobby Congress to oppose Obama's proposed escalation, and meet with their members of Congress during the Easter recess to express their concerns about the escalation of the Afghan war.
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The Friends Committee on National Legislation, the oldest registered religious lobby in Washington, is a nonpartisan Quaker lobby in the public interest. FCNL works with a nationwide network of tens of thousands of people from every state in the U.S. to advocate for social and economic justice, peace, and good government. For more information, visit http://www.fcnl.org.
