Open Letter to Congresswoman Capps

Will you please explain how U.S.-led nighttime raids that terrorize entire communities in Afghanistan are effectively “democratizing” that country? As we read in [the May 20] L.A. Times, hundreds of demonstrators poured spontaneously into the streets [on May 19] to protest our killing of four individuals, including two women, in the latest of what are now hundreds if not thousands of such actions.

Afghanistan’s President Karzai repeatedly demands we stop conducting these raids yet despite the fact that our government calls him the democratically-elected leader of his people, we deny him the sovereignty accompanying that position and, in fact, force him into attacking his own constituents when they share his outrage.

It’s perfectly obvious to anyone following the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that these are CIA/NSA actions carried out with the help of U.S. and NATO forces. Neither the American people nor, I’d imagine, most of our representatives in Congress are privy to enough information about our objectives or our methods to make sound decisions on U.S. policy. Which is why, I’m sure, that under your website’s “On The Issues” link, constituents find nothing at all about these wars, only your pledge of commitment to the soldiers who come home from them crippled in mind, body, and spirit.

I call upon you as my representative to the highest policy-making body in the nation to begin speaking out and voting against ongoing U.S. military action in situations where Congress has never declared war. As appealing as it may be to see yourself as the “Bringer of democracy, protector of women, and friend of the war-fighter,” you have absolutely no right to so misrepresent the people of your district in this or any other matter.