The tragedy in Afghanistan proves more clearly than ever before: we must rein in presidential war powers.

Dear Friend,

Our government leaders have told the American public we were making “steady progress” in the war in Afghanistan. And now we have proof that they lied.

The Washington Post just released more than 2,000 pages of reports revealing the truth: the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan is this generation’s Vietnam—with a staggering toll on human life and no end in sight.1

The Pentagon Papers helped bring the Vietnam debacle to public view and bring the conflict to a close.2 If we act now, we can make sure the Afghanistan Papers do the same—ending the disastrous war there and reining in the unbridled presidential war powers that made it possible.

Demand Progress is working to stop endless conflicts like Afghanistan. Will you donate to rein in presidential war powers and end the conflict in Afghanistan once and for all?

The tragedy exposed by the Post of the 18-year war in Afghanistan is immense. An estimated 43,000 innocent Afghanis have died, along with 100,000 insurgents and soldiers. More than 2,300 American soldiers have given their lives, and tens of thousands have been wounded.

In all, more than 157,000 people have died in a U.S. invasion with no clear end goal, strategy, or even enemy.

This overwhelming human suffering has come at a price tag of nearly $1 trillion. That figure includes millions in aid that wound up going to corruption and graft—which has strengthened the Taliban and sown a distrust of democracy.

On top of it all, the Post reports that president after president has misled the public about the war’s progress, “making rosy pronouncements they knew to be false and hiding unmistakable evidence the war had become unwinnable.”

It’s time that the American people said "Enough!" to endless conflict in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Demand Progress is pressuring Congress to pass legislation to rein in war powers, and we need you behind us.

We must rein in presidential war powers once and for all to end the tragedy in Afghanistan and prevent another one. Will you chip in?

Thanks for your support.

Robert Cruickshank
Campaign Director, Demand Progress

Sources:
1. The Washington Post, "The Afghanistan Papers: A secret history of the war,” December 9, 2019.
2. Rstreet, “Reclaiming Congress’ war powers,” July 29, 2019.

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