After the 2001 terrorist attacks I was among those who thought that we had no choice but to go into Afghanistan and strike back, hopefully definitively, at those who had attacked us. I still think this was correct, regardless of the feckless and dishonest actions of the Bush administration that followed.

 In the ensuing years, though, it has become obvious that our presence in Afghanistan was doing nothing to make us safer. What we have learned from the Abbottabad raid makes this clear beyond any misunderstanding.

 Bin Laden did not need to be in Afghanistan to direct his operations, and we did not need to be in Afghanistan to get him.

Now it's long past time to get out.

Peter Welch's legislative push to get us out of Afghanistan is attracting nationwide headlines as he continues to fulfill his promise to work to get us out of Afghanistan. The latest report from the AP has been picked up by Forbes magazine, among others.

WASHINGTON — Now that Osama bin Laden is dead, it's time to end the war in Afghanistan and bring U.S. troops home, several House Republicans and Democrats demanded on Wednesday. President Barack Obama will begin drawing down some of the 100,000 troops in Afghanistan in July, with all combat forces due out by 2014. But that timetable is unacceptable to a growing number of war-weary lawmakers, who argue that the death of the al-Qaida leader is an opportunity for the United States to recalibrate its strategy

 I am glad that we have a Representative who has been solid on the war and his campaign promises from the beginning.