By Amy Watts and Johnny Zokovitch
Earlier this week, Pax Christi USA signed onto a letter along with 22 other organizations representing over 30 million voters urging Senators to sign onto a bipartisan letter which calls for a “sizeable and sustained” reduction in forces from Afghanistan beginning in July.
The letter, already signed by 12 U.S. Senators, is addressed to President Obama. It reads in part, “[I]t is the right moment to initiate a sizable and sustained reduction in forces, with the goal of steadily withdrawing all regular combat troops (from Afghanistan).” Signers include Sen. Durbin (D-IL), Sen. Lee (R-UT), and Sen. Sanders (I-VT).
Our organizational letter of support was sent to all Senate offices this week, stating, “While many of us (our organizations) are calling for a more accelerated transition and may not agree with every word of the (Senate) letter, it represents a step in the right direction. It is clearly time to begin the process terminating the United States military engagement from the war in Afghanistan.” Pax Christi USA joined Council for Livable World, the Afghanistan Study Group, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, NETWORK, and MoveOn in signing the letter.
We believe that the President is close to making a decision on how large an initial troop withdrawal to order, while receiving pressure from the Pentagon to minimize the troop cuts. We’re encouraging our members to continue to contact their Members of Congress in support of a sizable and sustained withdrawal next month. We thank you for your help at this critical juncture.