MEMPHIS, TN - Here in the Mid-South, there are mixed opinions about the President's decision. Those strongly against the war made their views known tonight by taking to the streets. The Mid-South Peace and Justice Center held a protest tonight at the corner of Poplar and Highland.
Lelyn Masters enlisted after 9/11. Soon after, he served overseas. Tuesday night, he protested the President's plan to send more troops.
"It's no longer about the events of 9/11,” Masters said. “Now it's really just trying to piece back together the mess that we've made."
He and a couple dozen others who oppose the war gathered to get the message out and remember the lives lost.
"16 Tennesseans have needlessly lost their lives," said Director Jacob Flowers.
The President says the war continues because it is still about the terrorist attacks.
“I do not make this decision lightly,” President Obama said in his speech Tuesday night. “I make this decision because I am convinced that our security is at stake in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This is the epicenter of the violent extremism practiced by al Qaeda. It is from here that we were attacked on 9/11, and it is from here that new attacks are being plotted as I speak.”
8 year Air Force veteran Neal Gammill served in Afghanistan.
"I've been there,” Gammill said. “I've seen what the country's like. They need schools. They need hospitals. They need help. But they don't need more bombs, more land mines, more destruction, more chaos."
The President says first the Afghan people have be able to stand up for themselves.
“It must be clear that Afghans will have to take responsibility for their security, and that America has no interest in fighting an endless war in Afghanistan,” President Obama said.
Protester Kristen Johnson says she supports Obama as President, but not on this.
"I'm hoping for change,” Johnson said. “And maybe this will send a message that things need to change and not the way he's trying to change them."
In our web poll, Eyewitness News is asking: What you think about President Obama's plan to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan? You'll find the poll on the lower right-hand side of our home page.
