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Last Updated on October 15, 2015.

President Obama: Not the President Who Ended a War but Who Made War Endless

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 15, 2015

The Win Without War coalition criticized President Obama’s decision to reverse course and keep thousands of US troops in Afghanistan, calling the decision a “tragic and futile flip-flop.”

“Today’s announcement by the President is a tragic and futile flip-flop that will ensure that America’s longest war will drag on for years to come,” said Win Without War’s Advocacy Director, Stephen Miles, following today’s announcement that President Obama will keep 5,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan through 2017.

“We have tried fighting our way to peace in Afghanistan for 14 years now. We did not succeed with 100,000 US troops, and we will not succeed with 5,500 troops. Until we fundamentally shift our approach in Afghanistan, we will never see the conflict end.

“For far too long, American men and women have fought, bled, and died in a fight that has no military solution. The human cost of this war is even greater for the people of Afghanistan. President Obama’s announcement comes just days after the U.S. military bombed a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz. The deaths of the doctors, nurses, and patients at the hospital have shocked our collective conscience, yet they are just one example of why U.S. military intervention is not the answer.”

“Unfortunately, President Obama has apparently decided that he no longer wants to be the president who ended war, but the president who made war endless.”

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Win Without War is a coalition of national organizations with diverse constituencies originally founded in opposition to the Iraq War. The coalition remains active in opposition to the continued U.S. war in Afghanistan, the dangerous rush to war with Iran, and the underlying national security strategy on which these conflicts are based. We seek a fundamentally new approach to meet the national security challenges of the United States that is consistent with our nation’s highest values.

For more information, visit www.winwithoutwar.org.

October 15, 2015