Gov. Gary Johnson: “Bring Our Troops Home Now”

September 19, 2012

Posted in Blog, News

LIBERTARIAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE GARY JOHNSON AT UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE EVENT: BRING OUR TROOPS AND DOLLARS HOME FROM AFGHANISTAN NOW

Sept. 19, 2012, Durham, NH — Calling Tuesday’s announcement that the U.S. and NATO are essentially suspending joint operations with Afghan forces a “long-overdue acknowledgement of reality,” presidential candidate and former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson today called on President Obama to “bring our troops home now.”

Appearing at an event at the University of New Hampshire, Gov. Johnson said, “In recent weeks, we have witnessed the unspeakable tragedy of American service members being murdered by the very ‘security forces’ they are training. More than 50 international military personnel have been killed by Afghan forces this year alone, and we have already had to stop trying to ‘train’ Afghan police recruits.

“The net result of recent developments — and decisions — in Afghanistan is that we are at a very dangerous tipping point. There will undoubtedly be those who wrongly suggest that the purported ‘exit strategy’ of the Obama Administration should be delayed and efforts stepped up to get control of the obvious chaos. That would be a monumental mistake, and a failure to face the fact that, as the British and Soviets before us learned, Afghanistan is not a place we can control or upon which we can impose our will. Instead, now is the perfect opportunity for America to say ‘We’re better than this’ and bring our troops home and out of harm’s way.

“Let us not forget that we went into Afghanistan to uproot Al Qaeda and attack those who attacked us on 9/11. That mission was complete in a matter of months. Yet, we have remained there and engaged in ill-fated nation-building for more than a decade — at absurd costs in lives and treasure. After all that American benevolence, it is absolutely unacceptable to ask our troops to hand weapons to Afghan ‘security forces’, teach them how to use them, and then risk being shot by those same forces with those same weapons.

“By suspending that training and now suspending joint operations with Afghan troops, our military leaders on the ground are facing reality. It is time for our political leaders to do the same, and bring our troops and our dollars home.”