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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (July 13, 2011)
opinion It’s Time To End Our Costly Afghanistan War P resident Obama addressed the nation on June 22 to explain his strategy for troop withdrawal in Afghanistan. Of the 100,000 U.S. troops currently deployed there, the announced drawdown of 10,000 soldiers by year’s end and another 23,000 by September 2012 does little to end the longest war in U.S. history. Under this plan, approximately 70,000 troops will remain in the country, roughly twice as many as when Mr. Obama took office in January 2009. According to the president, these troops will be removed “at a steady pace” through 2014. In the meantime, the human and financial costs of this war will continue to grow. There is no military solution to the complex and long-standing sociopolitical problems facing Afghanistan and the region. As long as a U.S. policy of large-scale military aggression continues, Afghans will resist what they per- ceive as another foreign invasion and occupation of their country. We need a new vision and approach in Afghanistan. This starts with a cease-fire and a full withdrawal of U.S. combat forces. To lay the groundwork for domes- tic stability and security, Afghanistan needs an Afghan-led, V ETERANS foR P EAcE Brian J. Trautman Afghan-owned reconciliation process and the diplomatic and humanitarian support of a broad- based international coalition. Since 2001, 1,657 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan. Nearly 11,200 American soldiers have been wounded. The exact number of Afghans and Pakistanis killed and maimed due to this war is unknown, but a Brown University study put the figure at tens of thousands. A large propor- tion of these casualties are the result of strikes by unmanned aer- ial vehicles (drones), which many in the international community argue are illegal. The deadliest month for Afghan civilians since the war began occurred last May. Just this month the U.S.-led coali- tion in Afghanistan admitted to killing innocent women and chil- dren during an airstrike on insur- gents, and indicated that they are investigating a separate case of civilian causalities. These are common and unpreventable occur- rences in any war, and the war in Afghanistan is no different. Since World War I, there have been far more civilian casualties than mili- tary casualties in the major wars involving the U.S., and the ratio gets greater with each new war. Support among Americans for the war in Afghanistan has dropped considerably since last year. A new survey from the Pew Research Center shows that a ed to continue the war. The letter also calls on the Congress “to redi- rect our national priorities away from militarism and towards social justice here at home.” According to National Priorities Project, the cost of the war in Afghanistan since 2001 is now more than $432 billion, and rising at a rate of about $2.3 billion a End the War, Not Just the Surge As long as a US policy of military aggression continues, Afghans will resist what they perceive as another foreign invasion majority (56%) of Americans want troops pulled from Afghanistan as soon as possible. The U.S. Conference of Mayors passed a resolution on June 20 that called on leaders in Washington to “bring war dollars home to meet vital human needs.” Veterans For Peace recently signed on to a letter urg- ing members of Congress to sup- port an amendment to the FY12 Defense Appropriations Bill that would eliminate the funding need- week. A total of $459.8 billion has been appropriated for the war through the end of the current fis- cal year (Sept. 30). For the same amount of U.S. taxpayer money, the following could have been provided: 7.0 million elementary school teachers for one year, or; 94.6 million people receiving low- income healthcare for one year, or; 82.8 million students receiving Pell Grants of $5,550. Over the past decade war spending has con- tributed to a massive national debt and record budget deficits at the federal, state and local levels. The economic crisis has some lawmak- ers advocating for austerity meas- ures that would slash funding for essential public social services, which would further damage our economy and hurt Americans already struggling to make ends meet. The Obama administration must refocus its priorities and strength- en its commitment to the American people. The President touched on this subject briefly in his speech, stating that “We must invest in America’s greatest resource—our people. We must unleash innovation that creates new jobs and industries.” However, a shift from rhetoric to reality will require Mr. Obama and the Congress to move a significant amount of federal spending away from the military and toward the urgent needs of American commu- nities. Bringing the war in Afghanistan to an immediate end is a good start. Brian J. trautman is a u.S. army veteran, peace educator and activist, and member of Veterans For Peace. he resides in albany, n.Y. Give America a Jobs Program That Works B ENNETT c ollEgE Julianne Malveaux W hile a Department of Education pro- gram embraces “a race to the top”, our nation’s current stance toward our 14 million officially unem- ployed people represents nothing less than a race to the bottom. We are content to report, month after month, unemployment rates in excess of nine percent, to use questionable language to describe tepid perform- ance, and to assuage our- selves with myths that the economy is in recovery because GDP growth is up. Imagine that one of our chil- dren came home from school with a report card that showed a drop from a C- to a D, and she reported her grades as “substantially unchanged”. She would, substantially, find her allowance cut, her study hours increased, her privi- leges restricted. But when high unemployment contin- ues month after month, an unsatisfactory outcome in and of itself, we hear non- sense and platitudes. Fourteen million people are just the tip of the ice- berg. When we look at those who are discouraged, dropped out of the labor market, and all of that, we are looking at something closer to 20 million peo- ple. Among African Americans we are look- ing at more than one in four without work, and in inner cities, we are looking at nearly one in two men who do not work. Employers won’t create jobs, government won’t create jobs, and rhetoric won’t put people back to work. Then, what are we to do? If traditional job creation will not fill the void, we must consider the possibili- ty of encouraging entrepre- neurship so that people can be trained to create jobs for themselves. Enslaved peo- ple were some of our nation’s original entrepre- neurs. What kind of job cre- ation ability did it take for some of us to purchase our- selves. Throughout our his- tory, there are people who never joined the Fortune 500, but who created jobs and opportunities for them- selves and for others through entrepreneurship. Elizabeth Keckley, the seamstress who bought her freedom and worked for Mary Todd Lincoln, and others in Washington, is an example of the kind of entrepreneurial ability so many of the formerly enslaved exhibited. Thomas Day built a furni- ture manufacturing compa- ny in North Carolina in 1837. Elijah McCoy, “the real McCoy” invented the lubricating cup that became an essential part of locomo- tive manufacturing in 1872, and made millions from that invention. AG Gaston was an entrepreneur with inter- ests in insurance, funeral homes, broadcasting, public relations, banking, and the hospitality industry. And the list goes on. All these folk are African American, many are little know, and each of them is a story of inspiration for someone who is out of work. Entrepreneurship will not replace traditional employ- ment; indeed, entrepreneurs create employment opportu- nities for those who do not have them. Even as this administration grapples with our tepid economy, it seems that there ought to be some conversation about encouraging entrepreneurs to create value in an econo- my that seems to devalue the lives, and efforts of at least 20 million of our citi- zens, those who want to work but can find nothing. It is interesting that some banks were described as “too big to fail”, but we have easily tolerated failure in the labor market. Julianne Malveaux is President of Bennett College for women. her book, Surviving and thriving: 365 Facts in Black economic history, is available at www.lastword- prod.com. We honor the many accomplishments of African Americans. July 13, 2011 The Portland Skanner Page 5
