• U.S. national security depends on a stable and prosperous Afghanistan.
  • 1,175 coalition troops have been killed in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion. A stable and prosperous Afghan economy will allow us to bring our troops home.
  • Illegal poppy farming makes up 60% of Afghanistan’s GDP. Young Afghans need other career opportunities. Our sponsored students will return to Afghanistan and work with the government to build the private sector, reduce poverty, expand employment and enterprise creation, enhance opportunities in the region and improve the well being of all Afghans.
  • 60% of Afghanistan’s 32 million people are under 20 years old; thus making education the best long-term investment to ensure a democratic, moderate, civil society.
  • 30 years of war have systematically destroyed Afghanistan’s education system and held it in academic isolation.
  • Student enrollment in Afghan universities has grown twenty-fold from 4,000 in 2002 to over 76,000 today; thus demonstrating the population’s eagerness for higher education

What the World Says About Afghanistan

“We cannot hope to shape a world where opportunity outweighs danger unless we ensure that every child everywhere is taught to build and not to destroy.”

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- President Barack Obama

“The measure of effectiveness will not be the number of enemy killed, it will be the number of Afghans shielded from violence.”

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- U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, President Obama’s nominee for Commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan

“Combined, the initiatives that we have called for — increased regional diplomacy, a decrease in our military presence and a focus on development efforts — provide the best chance of enabling the Afghan people to develop a stable and functioning state of their own, which cannot be used by the Taliban and other extremists to threaten the security of the U.S. or other nations.”

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- Representatives Barbara Lee, Maxine Waters and Lynn Woolsey, U.S. Congress

“Afghanistan has reached a decisive moment for its future. We must not turn our backs on this opportunity… The Afghan people have shown me their determination to see their country succeed. And now it’s up to the international community to do our part to help make that success possible.”

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- Former First Lady Laura Bush

“History will one day judge us the people of Afghanistan on how well we used this historic opportunity to improve our livelihood. It will also judge the international community favorably for your wisdom and foresight to recognize that investing in Afghanistan’s peace and development was vital to global peace.”

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- Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan

“Afghanistan with a young population that is eager to learn and to partner with the United States, is a great opportunity for the region and an important asset for global security. In today’s divided and troubled world, the goodwill and commitment of the Afghan people to partner with the United States is an important asset for regional and global security.”

“Investing in education is investing in the future of peace and security… you can write the history of the future if you invest in education.”

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- Said Taib Jawad, Afghanistan’s Ambassador to the United States

“The success of Afghanistan is a vital interest of the international community.  Success in Afghanistan will contribute not only to the improvement of the lives of thirty million people who have suffered terribly as a result of twenty-five years of occupation and war.  It will also be a keystone in the effort to defeat terrorism, weaken extremism, to create regional stability in Central and South Asia.”

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- Zalmay Khalilzad, Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations