Veterans in Wisconsin are reacting positively to Saturday’s historic peace deal signed between the United States and the Taliban.
Sam Rogers is the coalition director with Concerned Veterans for America Wisconsin. He tells WTMJ the time has come to bring troops still stationed in Afghanistan back home.
“U.S. troops have fulfilled every obligation in that document that Congress authorized after 9/11,” Rogers said.
“They punished the Taliban, the defeated Al Qaeda and they killed Osama bin Laden.”
Rogers says his coalition is pleased with the deal reached on Saturday but stresses that more work needs to be done to bring troops back home.
“We’re thrilled that the President has moved the ball forward and taken a huge step towards ending this, which is something he ran on and campaigned on,” Rogers said.
“But it’s important to keep in mind that this Afghanistan agreement is not a withdrawal and it’s not a repeal of the 2001 AUMF [Authorization Use of Military Force]. So we do want to maintain forward momentum, but this is a great first step towards that.”
Rogers says CVA Wisconsin now wants to see members of congress work across party lines to get more work done.
“This is one of those rare things where congressional Democrats actually agree with the president on ending this war and bringing the troops home,” Rogers said.
“So, we’d like to see more congressional Republicans follow the president’s lead.”
For more information and reaction from Wisconsin veterans, visit Concerned Veterans for America Wisconsin’s Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/CVAWisconsin/
