October 24, 2011
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President,
As you are aware, a war is currently being fought overseas in the country of Afghanistan. I am
writing to you today not only as a concerned United States citizen, but also as someone who is
deeply despaired by the tragic losses that have been suffered in the Afghan war. This war has
been one characterized by thousands of casualties, tremendous expenses, and a seemingly neverending length. Though the war in Afghanistan may have been justified during its inception and
initial years, I believe that it has now gone on for much too long, and that it is imperative for us
to bring our soldiers home.
Though I am against the war in Afghanistan, I can easily understand the United States’ reasoning
behind invading the country in 2001. The attacks on the World Trade Center were some of the
most tragic in U.S. history, with a death toll of approximately 3,000 civilians. After such an
attack, something certainly needed to be done to combat the efforts of the terrorist organization
responsible for said attacks, (Al-Qaeda) and so I can certainly understand the reasons for the
war’s initial years.
This being said, I now feel as though the war has gone on for much too long, and the expenses it
has generated have been nothing short of enormous. October 7th, 2011 marked the 10 year
anniversary for the war, and each of these 10 years has cost the already distraught United States
economy tremendous sums of money. To date, the war in Afghanistan has surpassed $300 billion
in costs. In fact, for 2011 alone, spending has been estimated to be approximately $117 billion
(Mulrine, 44). And these are simply the costs of one of the several wars currently being fought;
the war in Iraq has been found to be even more costly. An almost nauseating figure of over $1
trillion represents the cumulative costs of the two wars combined.
In addition to economic burdens, the war has also generated massive death tolls for both sides.
To date, over 1,700 United States soldiers have lost their lives in Afghanistan alone, in addition
to those killed in other areas of conflict. As if this toll was not already disturbing, the death toll
for civilians in Afghanistan has also risen consistently. In 2010, the year considered most deadly
for Afghanistan civilians, an estimated 2,777 were killed, a 21% increase from the death toll in
2009 (Abi-Habib, 10A).
Of course, the topic of the war on Afghanistan is highly controversial, and thus many individuals
may present views opposed to my own. One of these opposing arguments pertains to the
potential domestic safety within the United States if we were to withdraw from Afghanistan.
Many people are worried that if we do not have military personnel deployed overseas, our safety
on our own soils may be compromised due to a higher risk of terrorist threats. To this I would
respond that we have already made efforts to gradually reduce the number of United States
soldiers overseas, and our domestic safety has yet to become compromised. More specifically,
you have declared to bring home approximately 33,000 soldiers from Afghanistan by summer of
2012, and I truly do appreciate these efforts. I believe that as long as we continue to improve our
domestic safety and security protocol within our own country, such as through the TSA’s efforts
to tighten airport security, the level of public safety for United States citizens will not decrease.
An additional objection to my argument pertains to the killing of terrorist kingpin Osama Bin
Laden. Some individuals would argue that since we killed Osama Bin Laden, the war’s costs and
casualties can be justified, and that the battle against terrorism overseas should continue. To this
I would respond, “Was it really worth it? Are all of the lives that have been lost justified
completely, if at all, by the killing of one sick individual?” In my mind, it just does not add up,
and I do not believe that the death of one terrorist leader is going to thwart Al-Qaeda’s terrorist
schemes. The time has come for us to stop attempting to solve other nations’ problems through
violence and war, and to start addressing the many problems present within our own country
today.
Thank you in advance for your time and consideration on this matter.
Sincerely,
Alex T. Staropoli
Research Citations/Works Cited
Abi-Habib, Maria. “Taliban Attacks Lift Afghan Civilian Death Toll.” Wall Street Journal 25.35
(2010): pA10. Print.
Mulrine, Anna. “Afghanistan Offensive.” U.S. News & World Report 147.6 (2010):p44. Print.