Obama, be decisive: End this war

President Obama, please listen to the voices of peace and nonviolence. When we said that fighting terrorism could be done without going to war, we were ignored. When we said that invading Iraq would be a costly mistake based on lies, we were ignored. The results speak for themselves:

• more than 1,000,000 Iraqis and Afghans killed by violence and destruction of health care infrastructure
• more than 5,000 American troops killed
• more than $2 trillion spent

We could have fought back after 9.11.01 in a different way and we were saying so. We could have:

• used the UN to construct sanctions on al-Qa'ida
• used Interpol to capture and bring to justice all al-Qa'ida members
• radically reduced oil imports
• ceased military aid to other governments
• drawn in our military
• extended humanitarian aid to the poorest
• focused on civil society democracy development by nonviolent means

These measures could have saved a million lives and the American economy. We weren't listened to then and we, as a nation, have paid the price and have made many innocent civilians pay the price in Afghanistan and Iraq. You have a moment now. Please, for once, tune out your generals and, for once, silence the war profiteers and their political shills. Listen to the voices of peace.
We were correct then and we are correct now. Using a soft power approach is far more cost-effective and sustainable than the military hard power road we've been on. You have a brief window now, with bin Laden gone, to draw down the military, save lives and $hundreds of billions in the short term and $trillions in the long term.
Be an evolved executive. This window won't stay open long. Be decisive. Change history. Heal this nation and the world.