The following letter to the editor was published in the

~ October 7th marks the beginning of the ninth year of the US war in Afghanistan. (In March, 2010, the war in Afghanistan will exceed in length of time the Vietnam War, making it the longest war in US history).

Q. What was the reason for this war in the first place?

A. To capture Osama bin Laden and all those responsible for the treachery carried out on 9-11-2001.

It’s now eight years later, one rarely even hears the name Osama bin Laden anymore, and no one can give a straight simple answer as to why we have 68,000 US troops in Afghanistan, with a pending request from the military for 40,000 more.

We should capture Osama bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda associates, but we have not done it and cannot do it by occupying and attempting to remake Afghanistan. President Obama is under intense pressure to go along with the request for more troops, and it will take more courage for him to say no than to say yes.

If he listens to the people, he will not only say no to an increase, but will refocus on our only legitimate reason for being there and reduce our military occupation. And Congress should say right now that no funds will be authorized for additional troops.

Let us act now to avoid the following scenario of 10-7-2012. “We have to send more troops to Afghanistan, or the deaths of the 5,000 Americans will have been for naught. And we must authorize another $150 billion for the war to support our troops in the field.”