Jimmie T. Smith, Florida coalition director of Concerned Veterans for America and an Army veteran, took to the pages of the Florida Times-Union to support an effort by Florida legislators to end America’s endless wars.
A measure by state Sen. Jeff Brandes and state Rep. Alex Andrade would call on Congress to repeal the 2001 Authorization for use of Military Force that paved the way for U.S. troops to be sent to Afghanistan.
Smith writes:
The memorial would send a clear message to our state’s congressional delegation from Florida’s elected leaders that this open-ended war in Afghanistan, which has cost over a trillion dollars and — more importantly — the lives of over 2,400 American service men and women and more than 20,000 wounded in action — must come to an end.
Montana’s House of Representatives recently endorsed repealing the AUMF and bringing our troops home; Florida could lend weight to the movement by adding its voice.
If it does, it would join the voices of millions of Americans.
A YouGov poll showed that large majorities of veterans, military families, and the public support withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and Iraq.
After nearly 20 years of war in Afghanistan, long after our major objectives were achieved, and with no clear national interest at stake, it’s time to bring the troops home. Until that happens, Smith writes, we run the risk of seeing “men and women who were not even born when the war started being deployed to what for some could eventually be their grandfathers’ war.”
Read Jimmie T. Smith’s opinion piece in the Florida Times-Union.