WASHINGTON D.C. – With the Fiscal Year 2009 War Supplemental Appropriations Bill debate on the Floor of the House this week, today, Congressman Michael Honda, member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), along with CPC co-chair, Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), issued a report summarizing the key findings, concerns and recommendations that have emerged from the CPC’s six-part series “Afghanistan: A Road Map For Progress”.

After listening to testimony and engaging in dialogue with some of the world’s leading experts on security issues in the regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan, Reps. Honda and Grijalva have produced a report, which represents both a summation of their panelists’ key concerns, as well as recommendations for consideration by the Progressive Caucus.

Reps. Honda and Grijalva’s letter to members of the Progressive Caucus summarizes key concerns and findings that emerged from the Afghanistan forums.

Background:

“Afghanistan: A Road Map For Progress” was the first of many policy conversations that will occur as part of the CPC’s Seeking Global Security project, a project that allows policy makers to examine what constitutes real national security for America, on a variety of security issues, with input from some of the world’s leading experts on these issues.

“Afghanistan: A Road Map For Progress” covered the following topics: Afghanistan’s History/Culture/Peoples; Defining America’s Strategic Interests; Role of the Military; Comprehensive Strategy for Afghanistan; US Foreign Policy vis-à-vis Pakistan; and International Diplomatic Strategies.

Experts ranged from Colonel Wilkerson (Colin Powell’s former chief of staff), General Paul Eaton (commander of Iraq’s security forces), Hekmat Karzai (director of Kabul’s peace and security centre), Ambassador Dobbins(President Bush’s special rep to Afghanistan) and Ambassador Akbar Ahmed (the UK’s High Commissioner to Pakistan), among others.

Please visit http://cpc.grijalva.house.gov for more information.