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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
CONTACT: National Peace Groups Robert Naiman, Just Foreign Policy, naiman@justforeignpolicy.org, 217-979-2857 |
Peace Groups Call Nationwide Phone-In to White House Against Afghanistan Escalation
Call The White House Comment Line: 202-456-1111 on Monday, November 23rd between 9 am and 5 pm
Subsequently You Can Call Your Members of Congress with Identical Message: 202-224-3121
Nationwide - November 20 - An ad-hoc coalition of national peace advocacy organizations is calling on people from every corner of the country to inundate the White House on Monday (November 23rd) with phone calls against military escalation in Afghanistan.
The groups, including Just Foreign Policy, United for Peace and Justice, the American Friends Service Committee, Peace Action, CodePink, Voters for Peace, Pax Christi, CommonDreams.org, Historians Against War, and the Institute for Policy Studies, are asking people to call President Obama on Monday, using the White House Comment Line: 202-456-1111.
Recent press reports have suggested that advisors to the President are "testing" the idea of sending 20,000 - 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan in 2010. Now, before the decision is made, the peace movement wants to make sure the White House hears the widespread opposition to any escalation of the war in Afghanistan.
"Sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan isn't going to make Americans safer, and it isn't going to help the people of Afghanistan," said Robert Naiman, Policy Director of Just Foreign Policy. "Instead of sending more troops, we need to establish an exit strategy for our troops, and shift our resources in Afghanistan from war to political reconciliation, reconstruction and development. The only difference between reconciliation now and reconciliation later is number of additional US military and Afghan civilian deaths and injuries that will happen if reconciliation is delayed."
8 Comments so far
Show AllThank you for this information. I will call and if the lines are busy, as I hope will happen, then I will go to the Federal Building and give my House Representative and my Senators office staff a written statement against the Afghanistan Escalation, to be forwarded to the respective Washington offices.
Maybe they will remember me because I was there today to visit all three to remind them of the 20th, anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the need for America to ratify this important declaration.
BO Call HOME.
This is SO important to do!!!! My hope is that we will JAM the switchboards! The White House will really take notice then! We must do this NOW!!!!!
Ya really think by calling up the empire, you can stop their wars?
Or we could get real before it's really too late. Organized resistance. Making a phone call is not resistance. It's "asking nicely."
to rvrwalker, Yes We Can
have you seen what Code Pink says about the war in Afghanistan?
http://codepink4peace.org/blog/category/codepinkcampaigns/afghanistan-codepinkcampaigns/
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1006/p06s10-wosc.html
War, while a terrible thing is not the most terrible thing. I know, I am a Soldier and have been for 22 years. None of you is more anti war than I am. I bet that sounds odd doesn't it? The fact of the matter is this, if we pull out of Afghanistan it will not stop killing, and it will facilitate a sectarian war the likes of which has never been seen. We ignored a totalitarian goverment that committed atrocities not unlike what Hitler did in the 1930s and 1940s. The only reason the Taliban (and others) did not kill more is their own lack of resources and organization.
Women will be denied health care and education and killed out right if they attempt to get either.
men will be forced to be educated by the taliban, if they are Pushtu, if not they have no rights, not even to own a automobile. People will be hung, shot and butchered.
Music will be banned http://www.rawa.org/music.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taliban
Art will be forbidden
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/11/nc/ht11nc.htm
Even something you appreciate every day that keeps you safe, forecasting the weather that will keep millions informed and safe will be banned
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghanistan_Meteorological_Authority
No, they do not want us there
http://www.rawa.org/rawa.html
but even the most anti American non-jehadist knows they need us there
Read more, speak less
David
Obam should be strapped-down and made to watch Bill Moyers "Journal" of this week at least three times --- regarding the pressure on LBJ to escalate the Vietnam war, and the tragic consequences.
Oh, that's right, Obama couldn't stop the escalation in Afghanistan, Central Asia, and the Middle East imperialist oil wars even if he did have the guts to do so -- because he is really not the one calling shots for this Empire, he's just their smooth 'front-man'.
So the Global ruling-elite corporate/financial Empire that pulls Obama's strings should be strapped-down instead ---- and shot.
Alan MacDonald
Sanford, Maine
I wrote an article at
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2394874/what_should_obama_do_in_afghanistan.html?cat=75
Please read. It details that, as the article states "Our technological advanced military is useless against fourth generation warfare as the article continues "Fourth generation warfare is defined as an "evolved form of insurgency that uses all available networks - political, economic, social, military - to convince the enemy's decision makers that their strategic goals are either unachievable or too costly for the perceived benefit." Unlike past wars, it does not win by defeating an enemy's military forces, but by defeating their political will. Fourth generation warfare is not new, but has been evolving for over seventy years. It is the only type of warfare known to have defeated major military powers. It defeated America in Vietnam, Lebanon, and Somalia; the French in Vietnam and Algeria; and the Soviet Union in Afghanistan".The defeat of major powers by weaker opponents makes it essential to understand this form of warfare and adapt accordingly. Success against a fourth generation opponent is contingent on the willingness and ability of a state to adapt to this fundamentally different type of war."
What kind of political strategy is it for Obama to support a policy that runs counter to his base? Does he feel comfortable having the GOP as allies? They already are saying that he is dithering and not supporting our troops.