Tonight, the House of Representatives is expected to vote on the Pentagon’s request for $33 billion for open-ended war and occupation in Afghanistan. While press reports suggest that when the dust settles, the Pentagon will have the war money, it’s likely that a record number of Representatives will go on the record in opposition to…
With the House poised to consider the Pentagon’s request for $33 billion for more death in Afghanistan, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has told the Huffington Post she expects a "serious drawdown" of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in the summer of 2011. The House Rules Committee has now approved an amendment for consideration on the war supplemental…
Today eighteen Senators voted for Senator Feingold’s amendment to the war supplemental requiring the President to establish a timetable for the redeployment of U.S. military forces from Afghanistan. This could be a turning point in U.S. policy on the war in Afghanistan. With this vote, the number of Senators on the record in support of…
When President Obama visited Afghanistan in March, he assured U.S. troops that "the United States of America does not quit once it starts on something." But according to Sunday’s New York Times, it ain’t necessarily so. When it comes to combating AIDS in the world’s poorest countries, the greatest nation on earth has apparently decided…
Yesterday, an organization that lobbies on peace issues asked me to contribute money in the upcoming Pennsylvania Democratic Senate primary between Senator Arlen Specter and his challenger, Representative Joe Sestak. I’m ready to donate. But first I need a key piece of information: which candidate will act to end the war in Afghanistan? Both candidates…
Sometime between now and Memorial Day, the House is expected to consider $33 billion more for war in Afghanistan. This "war supplemental" is largely intended to plug the hole in Afghanistan war spending for the current fiscal year caused by the ongoing addition of 30,000 troops in Afghanistan, whose purpose is largely to conduct a…
On Tuesday, Rep. Michael Honda signed his name to legislation put forward by Sen. Russ Feingold, Rep. Jim McGovern and Rep. Walter Jones that would require the President to establish a timetable for the redeployment of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. This is potentially a bellwether event, because Rep. Honda – together with Rep. Grijalva, who…
Yesterday, Senator Russ Feingold, Representative Jim McGovern, and Representative Walter Jones announced the introduction of legislation that – if it attracts enough support – could end the U.S. military occupation of Afghanistan, and bring the troops home. The key idea of the bill is straightforward. By January 1 – or within 3 months of the…
Journalist Andrea Mitchell has noted that General McChrystal’s report to President Obama calls for 500,000 troops in Afghanistan. [That’s not 500,000 U.S. troops, but 500,000 troops overall.] Mitchell correctly notes that if you don’t believe that the goals in McChrystal’s report for increasing the size of the Afghan army are realistic, that should lead you…
Live long enough, and you get to have diverse experiences. Today I get to defend the head of the CIA for telling the truth. CIA director Leon Panetta is catching some flak on the Intertubes for telling Voice of America that even if suspect ballots are discounted, President Hamid Karzai will in all likelihood win…