Grassroots veterans group applauds affirmation of need to complete withdraw from country
ARLINGTON, Va.—Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) on Thursday again hailed President Biden’s decision to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan and his commitment to seeing the withdrawal through to completion. On behalf of the organization, CVA Senior Adviser Dan Caldwell had this to say about the president’s remarks, in which he reaffirmed his commitment to bring our troops home from the country:
“We applaud President Biden for continuing to follow through with the promised withdrawal from Afghanistan. Extricating the United States from the long-running and continued civil conflict in Afghanistan not only keeps our troops out of the way of unnecessary harm, but it also puts the future of Afghanistan in the hands of the Afghan people. The president’s decision is in the best interests of the United States and the American people.”
BACKGROUND
Since 2018, CVA has been engaged in its End Endless Wars campaign, a multi-million-dollar grassroots advocacy campaign urging leaders in Washington to end our country’s military involvement in wars not connected to our national interests. CVA has spent over $3 million on digital, television, and direct mail advertising urging a full withdrawal from Afghanistan. The campaign has been aimed at educating the American public to the true costs (tax dollars, lives, livelihoods) of our “forever wars” and encouraging them to contact their elected representatives. In total, the campaign has generated nearly 1,000,000 emails to leaders in Washington urging them to end our “forever wars.” The End Endless Wars campaign evolved from CVA’s Rethink Foreign Policy effort, which the group launched in mid-2019.
A full two-thirds of veterans and majorities of military families and the general public support full withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and Iraq. A vast majority of the general public (80%) believe our military engagement around the world should be reduced or stay about the same. Only 6% believe we should be more engaged.