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Congress: AWOL on Afghanistan?
By maudeaster on 2009-04-07 09:39:43
Last Friday, I was excited to be part of a four-member delegation from Women Against War's Afghanistan Project visiting
the office of Rep. Tonko. Our message was that Congress needs to think for itself. Congress needs to take responsibility for
making an independent judgment on US Afghanistan- Pakistan policy. Congress particularly has the power of the purse. It
needs to weigh the value of continued huge spending on Afghanistan military occupation- estimated to cost $3.5 billion a
month with Obama's projected troop increase - versus investing the same resources in truly major development efforts for
Afghanistan and Pakistan. $42 billion a year, would build a lot of stability, allocated through local, non-governmental
organizations which can meet community needs far better than over-paid US consultants. Obama's plan does include some
development spending, and should be praised for taking a regional diplomatic approach -- especially including Iran which
was so helpful to the US from 2001-3, until Bush shifted into Axis of Evil mode. What we stressed, however, was that
Congress needs to recognize that the US military presence is actually undermining development and diplomacy efforts - not
only by gobbling the lion's share of the funding, but also by turning Afghans and Pakistanis involved in development and
governance into collaborators with disliked foreign occupiers. Much US military activity actually drives Afghans and
Pakistanis into the arms of the Taliban and no doubt increases sympathy for Al-Qaida as well. People are outraged by the
civilian deaths caused by US bombing, house raids, and predator drone attacks. The UN reports that In Pakistan, over
500,000 people have now registered as internally displaced, having fled their homes in the tribal areas to escape the
American drone attacks and the US-promoted bombings of the Pakistani military. As a first step, we urged that Rep. Tonko
oppose the $75.5 supplemental military spending bill for Afghanistan and Iraq -- and instead limit military spending to a
planned withdrawal from both countries. During the Bush years, Congress abdicated its foreign policy responsibilities.
Obama needs pressure from Congress, not just the military, as he shapes his policy for Afghanistan and Pakistan - we hope
Rep Tonko will be part of the effort to put the US on a more realistic path!
