War moves not the change we voted for

Days after the Memorial Day weekend, we remember and mourn the dead: 4,296 U.S. troops dead in Iraq; 685 dead in Afghanistan.

Let us also protect the living from unnecessary occupation and trauma by drawing down and ending, not escalating, these two wars.

Disapproval ratings for military efforts in Afghanistan are rapidly rising. In a March USA Today/Gallup Poll, 42 percent of respondents said the United States made "a mistake" in sending military forces to Afghanistan, up from 30 percent in February. Many thousands of calls poured into the House of Representatives' switchboard as citizens urged Congress to vote no on the war supplemental of over $94 billion. The Congressional Progressive Caucus, in hearings over the past several weeks with U.S., Afghanistan, and Pakistan military advisers, concluded that the supplemental "exacerbates" failed strategies by funding predominately military ($84 billion) with only $10 billion for economic development, institution building, local community funding and skills training.

The House vote for the war supplemental, 368-60, was cowardly, demonstrating a lack of fresh thinking and resolve.

Jim McGovern, (D-MA), who voted against the war supplemental, said, "I'm tired of wars with no deadlines, no exits and no ends." So am I. So are the veterans and military families who bear the brunt of speeded-up redeployments, stop-loss, chronic anxiety and bereavement. There is no right way to fight a wrong war. The escalation of war in Afghanistan is not the change that Americans voted for.

David Corcoran

Des Plaines