COMUNICADO-NO AL AUMENTO DE TROPAS A AFGANISTÁN - Mothers Against War: No more troops in Afghanistan

Comunicado de Prensa Madres contra la Guerra Sonia Santiago, portavoz 787.619.5175
Denunciamos el aumento en tropas militares a Afganistán
1 de diciembre de 2009
La estrategia military de Obama (que se nos está pareciendo cada vez más a la del pasado presidente Bush) , es la de incrementar el nivel de las tropas en Afganistán, lo que elevaría la cantidad de 71,000 que hay actualmente, a 101,000 en Afganistán y a 100,000 en Irak. Hay unos 5,000 militares de paises aliados adicionales, para un total de 106,000 para Afganistán. La única solución realmente justa tanto para los militares estadounidenses, como para el pueblo afgano es la salida de las tropas militares de suelo afgano.
La corrupción y el caos imperan en el gobierno afgano, apoyado por Obama. Afganistán es el productor principal mundial de opio. La lider afgana Malalai Joya denomina a los gobernantes afganos los "lores del narcotráfico" debido al alto grado de corrupción gubernamental. Ese es el gobierno que apoya Obama. Ese es el gobierno por el cual miles de familias militares pasarán la Navidad sin sus seres queridos. Por otro lado, el plan Obama no tiene objetivos concretos, alcanzables reales. La retórica que escuchamos tanto del presidente como de su Secretaria de Estado, Hillary Clinton, es un refrito de lo que escuchamos decir a Bush, la retórica de "acabar con el talibán y apresar a Bin Laden". Pero ya el pueblo estadounidense está frustrado con estas guerras, pore so Obama está incluyendo un calendario de reducción de tropas, eventualmente.
Las familias militares decimos que este es otro Vietnam. Que nuestros familiares están cansados y enfermos, que es hora de que regresen a casa. Les decimos que hay una sola estrategia de salida y esta es la salida de regreso a casa Ahora a que se les atiendan las heridas emocionales y físicas: ostoprosis, syndrome de estres post traumatic, daňo cerebral y otras condiciones. Mi gente, las guerras no valen la pena, excepto para los que se lucran con ellas.
Madres contra la Guerra, Sonia Margarita Santiago, portavoz Apartado 875 Dorado, PR 00646

Mothers Against War: No more troops in Afghanistan

The local chapter of Mothers Against War expressed its disillusionment Monday toward President Obama, who is expected to announced today, at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., that he will be increasing the number of troops in Afghanistan.
“Obama has failed the people of the United States, the voters who elected him. He was elected on a platform that promised a withdrawal of U.S. troops, but since he came to power he has kept the same amount of soldiers in Iraq and now plans to increase the number of troops in Afghanistan,” said Sonia Santiago Hernández, spokeswoman for Mothers Against War.
Obama is expected to explain today, when he addresses the nation from West Point, his decision to send up to 35,000 more U.S. soldiers to Afghanistan.
The escalation, which would take place over the next year, would put more than 100,000 American troops in Afghanistan at an annual cost of about $75 billion, The Associated Press reported.
With the escalation of the war, islanders would continue to see more Puerto Rican casualties, MAW charged. The number of soldiers with Puerto Rican roots or addresses killed in the Middle East since 2002 as a result of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars is 101.
Secretary of State Kenneth McClintock, a member of the local Democratic Party, said the president made the decision without the full support of his Democratic voters. He believes the plan will get Congressional support mostly from Republicans.
McClintock said Obama will have “a lot of explaining to do on the reasons for going there, why should we stay there, and what are the strategies. As a member of the Vietnam era, I am skeptical on this issue.”
He said that at a time when the U.S. does not have enough money to provide enough services, the president must justify the costs of sending additional soldiers and its impact on the economy.
McClintock said the cost of keeping a soldier in Afghanistan costs the United States about a $1 million a year per soldier.
“At a time when they are telling Puerto Rico that there is no money for parity in health care, that there is no money for a new Veterans Hospital [here], [Obama] is committing us for five more years to a war that has already lasted seven years … He also has to explain what this means to the people of Puerto Rico,” McClintock said.