Dear President Obama:

    Afghanistan is the good war, you tell us, necessary to ensure that it not again become a training ground and base from which al-Qaeda can launch attacks against the United States. This is also what we heard from the Bush administration war criminals and from others who support continuing, even escalating, the AFPAK campaign.In a recent article in The Wall Street Journal, Senators Graham, Lieberman and McCain, in response to the increasing opposition to the Afghanistan occupation, wrote that "We have reached a seminal moment in the struggle against violent Islamist extremism, and we must commit the decisive force that Gen. McChrystal tells us carries the least risk of failure." The wording here is significant as it implies that the senators see escalation not as a means of achieving success necessarily, but of avoiding failure - however temporarily and at whatever cost in human lives.

    President Obama, before you decide whether to send 40,000 additional troops into harm's way, I respectfully request that you answer several common sense and simple questions. With Afghanistan in chaos and confidence in the central government at an all time low in the wake of a fraudulent election that, in the words of Peter Galbraith, "handed the Taliban its greatest strategic victory in eight years of fighting the United States and its Afghan partners," just what do you expect the addition of 40,000 more troops to accomplish? Should the situation on the ground deteriorate still further or not improve, which seems likely in the absence of a legitimate, efficient and honest government that merits the trust and confidence of the Afghan people - a viable alternative to the "stability" offered by the Taliban - will further escalations be necessary in the months ahead? Senators Graham, Lieberman and McCain argue for a commitment of however many more troops General McChrystal determines is necessary to complete the mission, the "... decisive military force necessary to prevail." Gen. Dan McNeill, former commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, admits that, according to established US doctrine regarding counterinsurgency warfare, the "decisive force" of which the senators speak, must exceed 400,000 troops to have a chance for success in Afghanistan.

    As we mark the beginning of a ninth year mired in a protracted war of indeterminate nature, with no foreseeable end to a US commitment, just how much longer will you ask our young men and women to continue to fight and die in Afghanistan? While Senators Graham's, Lieberman's and McCain's commitment to stand with you "through the tough months ahead" is admirable, according to Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey, our commitment in Afghanistan will require, not months, but 10 to 15 years to make a difference, if at all. With the dead numbering over 5,000 American servicemen and servicewomen and a million Iraqi, Afghani and Pakistani civilians, how many more lives, Mr. President, are you prepared to sacrifice? How many more families will you destroy?

    Already, the "war on terrorism" is the second most expensive conflict in American history, trailing only WWII. While most Americans have been lulled into complacency, apathy and indifference and feel personally unaffected by the occupations, the reality is that the "war on terrorism" is costing the American taxpayer in excess of $3 trillion. Just how much more treasure are you prepared to squander in pursuit of undetermined goals in a conflict that is not only economic suicide, but not making America safe?

    President Obama, it is time, long past, for decisive action to bring these occupations to an end. How much more failure, pain, suffering and sacrifice will you ask the American people to accept and endure in Afghanistan? At what point will you garner the courage to admit that the effort, though perhaps noble, is impossible or beyond what we are willing/able to endure/pay in lives and treasure? Should you continue on this road to disaster, I fear you will share the fate of another Liberal Democratic president, who, having become embroiled in quagmire, with too much invested in treasure, lives and reputation to just pick up and walk away, had to abandon his dreams of a "Great Society." The Vietnam War defined and tainted the administration of President Lyndon Baines Johnson. I have one final question President Obama, is Afghanistan your Vietnam?