We must immediately end the endless wars in the Middle East and bring our troops home. This is a position that resonates with most Americans but our leadership chooses not recognize the will of their constituents. President Trump made a campaign promise to "Bring Our Troops Home" but has merely moved them around. Absent a Congressional Declaration of War a full withdraw of our military must be initiated.

We have spent two trillion dollars and shed American blood in Afghanistan for twenty years and what do we have to show for it? Nothing. The U.S.'s success at creating democracies in Germany, Japan and South Korea after World War II has led to a hubris that ignores the failures of modern state building efforts and permanent war. Without a change in U.S. leadership, it is assured that we will continue to spend money overseas which we can't afford seeking a victory that we can't define. Next year, it is estimated that we will spend sixty billion dollars just in Afghanistan. Bring the troops home and spend some of that savings thanking those who served and sacrificed.

A grassroots movement led by U.S. veterans last year demanded that Congress reclaim the war powers and re-evaluate decades of U.S. hawkish foreign policy. Another tactic is the state-level legislation aimed at forcing Congress to terminate the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force. West Virginia is considering legislation that forces their Governor to withhold National Guard troops from deploying overseas without a congressional declaration of war. I support any strategy that brings back our troops but the option for success is to replace Congress with candidates that will act.