It’s time to get out of Afghanistan! Osama Bin Laden is dead, and I see no reason to be there anymore. There is both a financial and a human cost in staying:
In the eleven years that American troops have been fighting in Afghanistan 1,834 have been killed. The most deadly year to date was 2010, when 492 Americans died.
And,
Nearly 16,000 U.S. troops have been wounded in action since the Afghanistan war began in 2001.
And,
According to the United Nations, nearly 12,000 Afghan citizens have been killed between 2007 -- when the UN began reporting such statistics -- and 2011.
And,
The war in Afghanistan has cost the United States $443 billion from 2001 through 2011, according to the Congressional Research Office.
The statistics are perhaps outdated by a year, but you get the picture. The costs associated with Afghanistan outweigh the benefits (and at this point I see only neocons and war-profiteers getting richer).
With a Romney presidency, it is very possible that the war in Afghanistan will continue and on top of that American meddling in Iran will be restarted. Here are some of the things he highlighted in his speech:
Romney also believes that in the case of Iran, “American support”--read meddling-- for the opposition in that country would be helpful. But that ignores the fact that the Green movement in Iran did not want U.S. support and intervention.
The Republican candidate also lamented the fact that “America’s ability to influence events for the better in Iraq has been undermined by the abrupt withdrawal of our entire troop presence.”
Lastly, he hinted that U.S. involvement in Afghanistan could continue for years to come if he was president. “The route to more war – and to potential attacks here at home – is a politically timed retreat that abandons the Afghan people to the same extremists who ravaged their country and used it to launch the attacks of 9/11,” the candidate said. “I will evaluate conditions on the ground and weigh the best advice of our military commanders.”
Neocons have already destroyed this nation under Bush II, it would be fatal to give them that chance once again.