[Peace] No War on Iran demo in Chicago

[Brussel Morton K.]

Code Pink has waffled, seems to be baffled, on what to do in  
Afghanistan, but they have not advocated keeping U.S. troops there.  
Read their statement below:

July 25, 2008

Dear Friend,

We are guardedly optimistic about the growing consensus for a  
timeline to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq. But unlike Barack Obama,  
we don't want to see our troops removed from the "bad war" in Iraq  
only to be sent to fight "the good war" in Afghanistan.

One of the very first actions of CODEPINK when we formed in 2002 was  
to go to Afghanistan to see, firsthand, the results of our invasion.  
We were horrified by the "collateral damage" -- the steady stream of  
innocent civilians killed and maimed by our "smart bombs." We pushed  
our government to stop killing civilians and to compensate the  
families of those who we had mistakenly killed or maimed.

Seven years later, innocent Afghans continue to be killed by our  
troops, more US soldiers are now dying in Afghanistan than Iraq, the  
Taliban are gaining new strength, opium production has soared, and  
Osama bin Laden has not been found. The Afghan people continue to be  
among the poorest in the world, women continue to be oppressed, and  
the U.S. government reneged on its promise of a "Marshall Plan" to  
rebuild Afghanistan.



Barack Obama and John McCain are advocating the exact same  
"solution": Send more troops. But more troops will only mean more  
violence, more suffering, more killing of innocents, and more  
recruits for the Taliban.



We know that war is not the answer, but what is? Should the U.S.  
peace movement call for talks with the Taliban? In Iraq, the U.S.  
government has not just talked to Sunni insurgent groups that killed  
U.S. soldiers but it is now allied with them.

Back in 2006, Greg Mills, an advisor to the NATO forces in  
Afghanistan, wrote: "Countering an insurgency requires a mix of  
military pressure, institution-building, reconstruction and  
development, and international aid. But ultimately, the key to  
defeating it is political accommodation. In Afghanistan, that means  
talking to the Taliban."

A June 2008 report by Canada's Senate Committee on National Security,  
said, "The conflict in Afghanistan could go on for a very long time  
if there is no attempt to resolve the issue through diplomacy."

Would you advocate a timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops? How  
can we best support Afghan women?
Click here to share your thoughts with us and take our survey about  
the issues that are being brought to the surface by Obama's recent  
trip to Afghanistan. You can join the conversation by posting your  
comments on Common Dreams and Huffington Post. We will cull through  
your responses and comments and promote the best to the presidential  
candidates. Surely we can come up with a better answer than simply  
advocating more violence!

Thank you for your insights and your commitment to peace.
Alicia, Anne, Dana, Deidra, Desiree, Farida, Gael, Gayle, Jean,  
Jodie, Liz, Lori, Medea, Nancy, Rae and Tighe

P.S. While Obama has been in Iraq listening to generals, we are  
listening to the soldiers standing up against war. James Burmeister,  
who suffers from PTSD and other ailments related to traumatic brain  
injury, was recently court-martialed for refusing to return to Iraq  
and speaking out against the horrors of war. He is currently serving  
six months in prison for his courageous stand. You can read more  
about his story here and send a letter of support- get the address here.

P.P.S. Our website Dontbuybushswar.org won the 2008 Progressive  
Source Awards Judges' Choice for Best Microsite, making this  
CODEPINK's second win in a row! Congratulations to Farida Sheralam,  
our brilliant webmistress, who continues to make our work shine. Be  
sure to check out her awesome new homepage redesign at  
www.codepinkalert.org.

unsubscribe from this list


Take our survey and share with us your thoughts about Afghanistan

Send a letter of support to war resister James Burmeister

Join CODEPINK
at the DNC/RNC!

On Jul 25, 2008, at 10:15 AM, C. G. Estabrook wrote:

> I'm glad to see it end with "Troops home NOW from Iraq and  
> Afghanistan!" (That's a position explicitly rejected by parts of  
> the anti-war movement, e.g., Code Pink.)
>
> Given the plans of Obama and the Democrats, it should also say "No  
> New War on Iran or Pakistan!"  --CGE
>
>
> Barbara kessel wrote:
>>     Announcements:
>>       No New War on Iran!
>> 12 noon
>> Saturday, August 2
>> State of Illinois Building Plaza
>> Randolph and Clark Streets, Chicago
>> Join us as Chicago joins 50+ other cities in a day of protest  
>> against a U.S. or Israeli attack on Iran.
>> ...
>
> _______________________________________________
> Peace mailing list
> Peace at lists.chambana.net
> http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/peace

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