For immediate release
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Whereas the 1,000th American soldier has fallen in February 2010, the ninth year of the Afghanistan War,
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Whereas the precious lives of 5,378 American soldiers killed in the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars are irreplaceable,
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Whereas the murder of nearly 3,000 civilians on September 11, 2001, was a heinous terrorist act,
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Whereas nothing can remove the pain and anguish of over 8,000 American families these deaths have maimed, no matter how many terrorists and Al-Qaeda members are killed,
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Whereas the deaths of countless innocent Iraqi, Afghan, and Pakistani civilians, often referred to as “collateral damage,” can only cause more aggression and future blowback on American soldiers and civilians,
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Whereas the Congress elected in 2006 with a mandate to end wars abroad instead increased Department of Defense spending from $499 billion to nearly $708 billion, an increase of 42%, (Source: p. 86/368)
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Whereas the full cost of our foreign policy abroad far exceeds a staggering $1 trillion dollars per year, and we spend more on our military than the rest of the world combined,
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Whereas the exorbitant defense spending has still left America’s borders largely unprotected,
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Whereas it costs the Pentagon $400 to supply each gallon of gasoline to Afghanistan,
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Whereas the costs to care for veterans has skyrocketed from $45 billion in 2001 to $125 billion in 2010, (Source: p. 86-7/368)
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Whereas the United States of America possesses over 761 military bases in 150 of the world’s 194 countries, and over 380,000 troops garrisoned abroad,
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Whereas the prime reason terrorists attacked America is our military bases, garrisons, and wars on foreign soil,
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Whereas the strategy of Al-Qaeda has always been to entangle America in wars of occupation, and bleed our nation dry of the blood of our bravest and wreck our country economically,
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Whereas the newspaper headline rate is 10%, the official government U-6 unemployment rate is 17%, and a reputable independent figure is 22%,
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Whereas the former Republican President boldly proclaimed he would never engage in “nation-building” wars, and then did exactly this not once, but twice,
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Whereas a new Democrat President freely accepted the Nobel Peace Prize, and immediately proceeded to escalate the war in Afghanistan by tripling the 31,400 troops in December 2008 to a projected 100,000 troops in 2010,
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Whereas Congress never declared war and both wars are unconstitutional per Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution,
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Whereas the nations of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan committed no act of aggression towards America,
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Whereas just wars must always be an absolute last resort,
We, the undersigned, do not support warfare without a formal congressional declaration of war. Visit our websites and contact our campaigns to hear the common sense solutions we have to the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars.
Michael Frisbee, Candidate for US House GA-13 frisbee2010.com
Adam Kokesh, USMC, Candidate for US House, NM-3 kokeshforcongress.com
Mike Labno, Candidate for US Senate, IL labno4senate.com
Rob McNealy, Candidate for US House, CO-6 votemcnealy.com
Valerie Meyers, Candidate for US House, GA-8
John Jay Myers, Candidate for US House, TX-32 johnjaymyers.com
Patrick Henry Sellers, Candidate for US House, PA-6 patsellers.org
Jake Towne, Candidate for US House, PA-15 towneforcongress.com
Dr. Mike Vasovski, Candidate for US House, SC-3 vasovskiforcongress.com
Fred “John” Wieder, USAF, Candidate for US House, TX-22 johnwieder.com
February 22, 2010
END
Towne for Congress’s Afghanistan and Pakistan War plank is here, Iraq War plank is here. See also “Bloody Summer Ahead in Afghanistan” and “Guns or Health Care?” for more information.
