Press Release: Afghanistan War Vets Call for Independent Investigation on 14th Anniversary of War

For Immediate Release:

October 7, 2015

Contact:

Matt Howard, Communications Director, IVAW: 415-819-6430 / 646-723-0989, [email protected]        

Afghanistan War Vets Call for Independent Investigation on 14th Anniversary of War:

Recent Veterans Point to Disastrous Consequences of Endless War in Afghanistan

On the 14th anniversary of America's longest running war, Afghanistan veterans from across the country join the call from Doctors Without Borders for a fully independent investigation into the recent U.S. bombing of a hospital in Kunduz.

Afghanistan veteran and Truman Scholar Brock McIntosh asserts, “The U.S. military and the Administration have lost any remaining trust to conduct an impartial investigation into this horrific bombing. With four different explanations coming out of the military in the past few days, it’s clear that an independent investigation is the only way to get to the bottom of what happened.”

These veterans, who have learned hard lessons from their deployments, also reject General Campbell's statement yesterday that boots on the ground are needed past the proposed withdrawal date. They call on the President to make a full withdrawal in light of the disastrous events this past weekend and the lack of any clear strategy or end goal in the continued conflict.

“I was deployed in President Obama’s surge in 2010 and 2011 and now four years later I’m hearing the same story from the Administration: More American troops are going to solve these issues in Afghanistan. Every time that has failed to improve conditions and now here we are 14 years later in the longest war in American history. In light of recent events it’s clear that our continued occupation is only making conditions in Afghanistan worse. When do we call it enough?” said Derek Matthews, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran with deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

NOTE: Afghanistan war veterans are available for comment.

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Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) advocacy group of veterans and active-duty U.S. military personnel who have served since September 11, 2001. IVAW is focused on holding the U.S. government accountable for human right violations of the health of Iraqis, Afghans and U.S. veterans. IVAW currently has over 2,000 members in fifty states, as well as in Canada, and Europe..