June, 22 2011, 09:31am EDT
United for Peace and Justice Afghanistan Statement to the Obama Administration
Tonight President Obama is scheduled to address the nation outlining the direction of U.S. foreign policy on Afghanistan. He is expected to disclose the number of troops that he will withdraw by the end of July, his plan for withdrawing all U.S. troops and his rationale for these decisions.
United For Peace and Justice will evaluate the President's decisions against our clear stance that all U.S. troops must be withdrawn immediately to allow the people of Afghanistan to chart their own destiny.
WASHINGTON
Tonight President Obama is scheduled to address the nation outlining the direction of U.S. foreign policy on Afghanistan. He is expected to disclose the number of troops that he will withdraw by the end of July, his plan for withdrawing all U.S. troops and his rationale for these decisions.
United For Peace and Justice will evaluate the President's decisions against our clear stance that all U.S. troops must be withdrawn immediately to allow the people of Afghanistan to chart their own destiny.
There is common agreement from the likes of General Petraeus to Senator John Kerry that a political solution, not the military, is the answer to stability in Afghanistan. After ten years of war it is clear that U.S. military presence is not improving the everyday lives of Afghans and is impeding reconciliation. Coalition troops escalate conflict between Afghans as the population is expected to pick a side against the Taliban who are also Afghans. U.S. military operations have killed and maimed thousands of people including the latest killing of twelve children in late May. Afghanistan's tradition of independence and the anger caused by U.S. killings of innocent family, friends and neighbors ensure the Taliban has no problem finding fresh recruits.
The cost in coalition deaths is equally unacceptable. Coalition forces have lost 2,156 of which 1,614 are U.S. troops. Thousands of families who will never see their loved ones alive again mourn these deaths. Thousands more struggle daily to understand and support returned soldiers who suffer the mental and physical scars of wars. In perhaps the greatest tragedy, these mental and physical scars push increasing numbers of service members and veterans to commit suicide.
The war is a financial drain. With an estimated 100 Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, in fiscal year 2011 the U.S. has allocated $122 billion for the war in there. That is more than a billion dollars per Al Qaeda operative. It would be a terrible waste in a boom economy but is senseless when U.S. citizens are suffering deep budget cuts, layoffs, high unemployment and an anemic economy. This waste of resources is not lost on the elected officials most responsible for the economic well being of cities. The U.S. Conference of Mayors representing cities over 30,000 residents has a resolution before the body calling for troops to be brought home and money spent on war diverted to cities and towns for jobs, healthcare and other critical human needs. Confronting the harsh reality of the economic crisis and lack of resources mayors across the country are turning away from the waste of war.
Finally the people of the US have recognized it is time for the U.S. to leave. A June 2-5 ABC News/Washington Post poll shows that 73% of participants believe the U.S. should withdraw a substantial number of combat forces and a May 5-8 Gallup poll shows that 59% of respondents feel the U.S. has accomplished it mission in Afghanistan and should bring its troops home. Only 36% believe forces should be maintained there.
It is time for the U.S. to leave Afghanistan and changes its counter terrorism strategy from one reliant on military power to careful multi-lateral intelligence work, law enforcement, diplomacy, and economic development. It is time to change course. It is time to bring our troops and war dollars home.
United for Peace and Justice was founded, in 2003, to build a coalition of local and national peace and justice organizations to prevent the War on Iraq. The conflicts raging around the world today make it clear that the need to work for peace remains more important than ever. That is why UFPJ reorganized, in 2008, as a network and now operates with an all-volunteer Coordinating Committee, supported by one part-time staff member who assists with UFPJ action alerts, campaigns, and organizing. They meet weekly to manage the ongoing communication and administrative requirements of the network.
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Scientists Relaunch Campaign to Save the Endangered Axolotl
The Adoptaxolotl 2024 campaign invites donors to adopt a threatened salamander for around 600 pesos, or $35.
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Ecologists in Mexico relaunched a campaign Thursday to protect the axolotl, an iconic Mexican underwater salamander threatened with extinction.
The Adoptaxolotl 2024 campaign invites donors to adopt a threatened salamander for around 600 pesos, or $35, The Associated Press reported. A virtual adoption comes with regular updates on the amphibian's well-being. Axolotl lovers can also buy one of the salamanders a dinner or purchase axolotl-themed t-shirts, bandannas, and mugs.
"The axolotl is at critical risk of extinction," Luis Zambrano González, who works at the Biology Institute of Mexico's National Autonomous University (UNAM), told the UNAM Gazette. "For this reason we need to understand its conservation as something that all of society is responsible for, to care for its habitat and develop strategies to allow people to relate more to these animals."
"Thanks to these surveys we realized that the amphibian is on the edge of extinction, and if we don't do something we will soon lose it in the wild."
There are 18 different species of axolotls in Mexico, and nearly all of them are considered critically endangered, according to AP. The salamander is famous for its unique appearance, as well as its ability to grow back severed limbs. Scientists believe that studying the axolotls' ability may help them to repair tissue damage or aid in cancer recovery, but they will have to work fast to uncover their secrets.
Zambrano told the UNAM Gazette that axolotl numbers had rapidly declined in surveys: from 6,000 per square kilometer in 1998 to 36 in 2014, a decline of 99.5% in less than two decades.
"Thanks to these surveys we realized that the amphibian is on the edge of extinction, and if we don't do something we will soon lose it in the wild," Zambrano said.
The campaign, which is organized by UNAM scientists, raised more than 450,000 pesos, or $26,300, last year to launch a captive breeding program and to restore habitat in the ancient canals of the southern Mexico City district of Xochimilco, according to AP.
The scientists said that the salamanders in Xochimilco were in danger because their habitat was menaced by urbanization, pollution, and invasive species, the UNAM Gazette reported.
"There is no more time for Xochimilco," Zambrano told AP.
So far, researchers have restored 40 floating islands and 5.5 kilometers of canal, created 36 biodiversity refuges, and installed 71 filters to improve water quality, the UNAM Gazette reported.
Axolotls are also susceptible to the chrytid fungus behind mass amphibian deaths worldwide, according to AP.
Scientists say more research is needed to truly know the extent of the damage to the axolotls' habitat and the risk to the all of the species.
Alejandro Calzada, who works for the Mexican government monitoring less popular species of axolotl, told AP that his team of nine is not able to monitor all the streams in Mexico City or the country as a whole.
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The first 24 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza were released Friday evening in exchange for 39 Palestinian women and children held in Israeli prisons.
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The pause in the fighting has also allowed much needed aid trucks to enter Gaza. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that 200 aid trucks were sent from Israel Friday, of which 137 were unloaded by the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East, U.N. Newsreported. It's the largest convey of aid to enter Gaza since Israel's bombardment began October 7.
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Four trucks full of gas and 129,000 liters of fuel also arrived in Gaza Friday.
However, Hamas has reportedly delayed the release of more hostages Saturday because it says Israel is not allowing aid to enter northern Gaza, Al Jazeera reported. The group said Israel had also violated the terms of the cease-fire by shooting tear gas and live ammunition at people who attempted to return to their homes in northern Gaza and by flying surveillance drones high over Gaza Saturday.
Hamas took around 240 hostages—both Israelis and foreign nationals—into Gaza during its October 7 attack on Israel that also killed around 1,200 people. On Friday, the group released 13 Israelis, including an 85-year-old woman and children as young as 2, as well as 10 Thai nationals and one person from the Philippines, The Guardian reported.
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The families of the Thai hostages celebrated their return.
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Phoome, who was working on a potato and pomegranate farm near Gaza when he was captured, was one of 30,000 Thai nationals working in the agricultural sector in Israel before the war, and one of around 5,000 employed at farms near Gaza. The Thai government said that 20 more Thai nationals were still being held in Gaza.
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"I salute the work of the Philippine Foreign Service in securing his release, and once again thank the State of Qatar for their invaluable assistance in making Jimmy's release possible," Marcos said.
Another Philippine woman, Noralyn Babadilla, remains missing.
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Israel holds around 8,000 Palestinians in its prisons, 3,000 of whom were detained since the October 7 attacks, Al Jazeera reported. Nearly every family in the West Bank has had a relative detained at one point, according to BBC News.
The NGO Palestinian Prisoners' Club said that Israel had told the families of released prisoners that they could be fined around 70,000 shekels ($18,740) for sharing sweets to celebrate their loved ones' return, speaking to reporters, or having guests over.
One of the Palestinian prisoners released was 24-year-old Marah Bakeer, who was 16 when she was arrested for allegedly attempting to stab an Israeli soldier, something she and her family deny. Israeli forces shot her in the arm and hand 12 times before her arrest.
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The bombardment has also destroyed or damaged more than 60,000 buildings, and some Gazans used the pause in the fighting to return to their homes and survey the damage.
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Carson City District Court Judge James Russell sided Tuesday with the Coalition for Parents and Children PAC, which last month filed a lawsuit claiming the ballot measure—which would guarantee the "fundamental right to reproductive freedom"—violates Nevada law by covering more than one subject. The petition mentions abortion, birth control, prenatal care, and post-partum care, which advocates note all fall under the umbrella of "reproductive freedom."
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