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Congress is ramping up for hearings on the war in Afghanistan, and with that in mind, Rethink Afghanistan is leading the call for citizen comments. The question is simple: What would you ask Congress about Afghanistan? Here’s my question for Congress, and for the witnesses Congress calls to these oversight hearings.

Of course, you know my answer. It’s that escalation in Afghanistan isn’t making America safe, and that we don’t need more troops in Afghanistan to keep America safe:

There is another way. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace has laid out a plan to eventually de-escalate in Afghanistan, fight Al Qaeda, and keep America safe. By focusing the current level of NATO troops in places where they can have the most impact, and working regionally with the Afghan government, Pakistan, and even the Taliban to disrupt Al Qaeda cells, we can get ourselves to a position where we guard over the region without being committed heavily on the ground. This will not only strengthen our allies in the region and cost less money and lives, but it will also sap the Taliban’s recruiting power and allow us to focus on the real threat, Al Qaeda.

It has never been explained to me why we need thousands of troops on the ground to root out Al Qaeda. America, working with its allies, has been disrupting terrorist networks for decades without large ground forces. Why can’t we do it in Afghanistan?

Rethink Afghanistan is urging people to post their own questions to Congress, both video and text, as well as running some voting on the questions, to get the best ones to rise to the top. So, head over there and ask one. This war has been ignored for so long, I’m sure there are tons of things you can think of to ask.

Maybe, with enough citizen input, we’ll get some real oversight from Congress.