For immediate release: Friday, February 17, 2012

Contact: John Isaacs (202) 543-3100 x.2222; cell 202 258-3597

Washington, D.C. . . . Eighty seven Members of Congress, including nine Republicans, sent a letter today to President Obama praising the administration’s decision to bring home all combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2013.

On February 1, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta announced that the United States will end its combat missions in Afghanistan by “mid- to the latter part of 2013.”

This step was pressed for in amendments offered last year in the Senate by Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and in the House by Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Walter Jones (R-NC).

This bi-partisan group of 87, at a time of few bi-partisan assemblages, wrote: “We write to express our support for the Administration’s announcement on February 1st that the United States will complete combat operations in Afghanistan by the end of next year.”

John Isaacs, executive director of Council for a Livable World, congratulated McGovern and Jones and four other lead sponsors for their effort: “This letter and this announcement mark a major milestone in ending what has been an endless war in Afghanistan at the cost of so many lives and so much treasure.”

Continued Isaacs: “While Council for a Livable World and many Members would support an even more rapid withdrawal of all troops from Afghanistan, it is vital that just as the U.S. has withdrawn militarily from Iraq, we should also withdraw militarily from Afghanistan.”.

A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll taken February 1 - 4 showed that 78% of the public supports the Administration's drawdown of troops, including 64% of Republicans.

A copy of the letter is attached.

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Click here for an alphabetical list of the signers

doc20120217143351.pdf