Afghanistan - Time to take to the streets!

Friends,

If you were on a game show and were asked how many more troops are needed to "win" the war in Afghanistan, would you answer, a)20,000, b)40,000, c)80,000, or would you rephrase the question, providing an option of ending the war, gradually pulling out the troops, sending real humanitarian aid, and ending the corrupt rule of the warlords and druglords?

Based on the U.S. (and "allied") experience to date, it is evident that the past eight years in Afghanistan have been a miserable failure in every way. We have pillaged the U.S. Treasury to conduct an illegitimate occupation that has left Afghnanistan a mess, fed a corrupt government, created a strong insurgency (and Taliban), and thoroughly destabilized the region (e.g. Pakistan).  So what's a president to do???

Go for the photo op!  Stand up at the U.S. Military Academy (West Point) flanked by sharp, young cadets (a strong military symbol) and remind the nation of his promise the week before to "finish the job" someone else started eight years prior.  Well, it was a lousy job to begin with (you can't build a house without a decent plan), and this house is destined to collapse before it's completed.

Increased military operations in Afghanistan will only serve to sell the ranks of the extremists, and fighters will continue to join up from not only inside the country, but also from countries like Kashmir, Uzbekistan, Chechnya and Turkey.  We should heed the words of Canadian Major-General Andrew Leslie who said, "Every time you kill an angry young man overseas, you're creating fifteen more who will come after you."

It is time to stand up, take to the streets and make our voices heard over the drums of war.  Short of a national strike (don't count on that), there will be responses planned in many cities across the United States. Check the Veterans for Peace Website for their Call to Action Against Afghanistan Troop Increase.

Find an event, call as many friends as you can, and get out and protest (nonviolently of course).  Bring signs and banners.  Get some musicians out there.  Let's raise our voices for PEACE, because war is NOT the answer.  And once we're done with that, we can get back to educating our members of Congress and the public about what we should be doing in Afghanistan (more on that in a subsequent post).

Peace (and Happy Thanksgiving),

Leonard  

We still need to flood The White House (and Congress) with phone calls telling the President to NOT send any more troops to Afghanistan.  The toll free number for The White House is 1-888-310-8637.  You can find phone numbers for your Representatives by clicking here.