Statement of Cheryle Jackson on the commitment of more U.S. troops in Afghanistan

I respect and support President Obama but I disagree with the decision to commit more troops and resources to Afghanistan.  It is time to take care of America again and time to bring our troops home. Until we stop spending hundreds of billions on wars, we will not have the focus or money to solve the challenges we face at home. Some Illinois soldiers are facing their third or fourth deployment to Afghanistan and Iraq. I am so grateful and humbled by the heroism of our brave men and women and their families who have sacrificed so much. 

The commitment of 30,000 more troops in Afghanistan is estimated to cost more than $30 billion. Illinois taxpayers spent $49 billion on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2001, according to the National Priority Project. That money could provide more than 20 million people with health care, fund five million college scholarships, 760 thousand elementary teachers for a year or a million new public safety officers. The cost in money and lives of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq is too great, and I am concerned that our mission in Afghanistan is unsustainable in light of corruption and instability in the Karzai government.

It’s time for people at the grassroots to make their opinions known about a war that claims precious lives and resources that we so desperately need at home, so I have launched an online petition against sending more troops to Afghanistan and to withdraw American military forces still in Iraq.

The petition can be found at BRING OUR TROOPS HOME