Note by Evans Liberal Politics owner Paul Evans: While this came out just before Christmas — and somehow I missed it — I believe this is one of the most important discussions, with the best videos, that you will have come across in 2009. As we start the New Year, we ask ourselves, “Has anything really changed in Washington since Obama became President? Didn’t he load his top positions (McChrystal and Gates in the military, Rahm Emanuel, and Summers, Geithner and Bernanke for economic matters), with the same sorts of people who ran D.C. before? What kinds of real change have we seen from this President? Could even Bush have done worse than Obama on his economic team and the surge in Afghanistan.

Sadly, we conclude that Obama is no different, just a gifted orator with a good PR department. And it troubled me greatly to conclude this, because I worked for him and believed in him. I mean, I received a personally signed Christmas card from him (bet that won’t happen again).

Well, as we start a new year, it’s time to reevaluate and start fresh. There is no better place to start than Afghanistan, and Representative Eric Massa is in the forefront of progressives who oppose what’s wrong in D.C. (and the Pentagon), so here is what he has to say:

Christmas Eve is a time to gather with friends and family to reflect on the good things in life. It’s a time to share our joys and our hopes for peace on earth and good will towards all.

This year Christmas Eve has a sad and ironic twist to it however.

As we begin our deployment of 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, this Christmas Eve will also mark the 3,000th day of the war in Afghanistan and the 30th anniversary of the initial Russian invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Thus far, this war has already cost the American taxpayer a minimum of $300,000,000,000 according to the Congressional Research Service (and that’s just the funding that’s “on budget”).

Sadly, the fact that we’re spending about $101 million per day in this war is the good news. The financial cost of this war is nothing compared to the fact that 937 American troops have been killed, and 4,434 have been wounded (and that’s not counting the thousands more that will carry the memories of this war for their entire lives).

Exactly 50 days ago from Christmas Eve, because of all of these reasons, I took to the floor of the House and formalized my call for an end to this war of occupation and attrition.

As a 24 year retired military officer and former special assistant to the then Supreme Commander of NATO, General Wesley Clark, I am deeply troubled by the fact that we have yet to even define victory. Having recently witnessed an election where Hamid Karzai “won” despite having about 1/3 of his ballots thrown out for election fraud, I also know that we cannot continue engaging in nation building by partnering with one of the most corrupt narco-governments in the world. Additionally, being on the House Armed Services Committee and having listened to the testimony of General Stanley McChrystal, Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, there is nothing that convinces me that we can force Democracy on a tribal people through continued military occupation or escalation.

History has shown us what happens when military forces try to occupy Afghanistan, and we can learn a lot from the Russian invasion which begain on December 24th, 1979.

Our friends at the Brave New Foundation have been working on an ongoing project called ReThink Afghanistan and today, they released a great piece on the lessons we can learn from the Russian invasion. I HIGHLY recommend watching this video and sharing it with your friends and family.

Afghanistan War: The Soviet Lesson Not Learned

So What Can We Do?

Last week, I signed onto a letter with several members of Congress to demand a Congressional debate followed by an up or down vote in the House on the escalation. It has been eight years since Congress has had any sort of meaningful debate on this critical issue and the public deserves to know where their member of Congress stands.

This is where you can help.

If you agree that the American people deserve an up or down vote on the escalation in Afghanistan, then I urge you to call your member of Congress and Senators to tell them to support an Up or Down vote on this issue.

Nothing gets the attention of a member of Congress quite like returning from the holidays to discover 500 voicemails demanding action.

You can find your Congressman or Congresswoman by visiting house.gov.

You can find your Senators by visiting senate.gov.

Let’s declare that enough is enough on this 3,000th day of the war in Afghanistan. It’s time to bring our troops home.

-Congressman Eric Massa

P.S. Don’t forget to recommend this post and send an email to your friends and family to recruit their help.

Paul: Additionally, you can:

Call President Obama at 1 (202) 456-1111, and demand an end to a never-ending, futile war.

Call Congress: Dial 1 (202) 224-3121, which is the Capitol operator, and ask for your Senator and or Congressman.

MUST SEE: Rep. Massa fires back at Cheney, GOP political attacks:, Video – the Ed Show on Daily Kos TV.

VISIT Michael Moore’s Official Website, where you can catch up on all the latest news on efforts to win an end to this senseless war.