Afghanistan .......let's not continue failed policies

Obama has recently announced intentions to deploy 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan and otherwise expressed a continuation of the failed US policies there. In his very first hours as president, Barack Obama ordered two strikes by unmanned Predator drone missiles on villages in a remote area of Pakistan. We need to stay educated and active on this issue.

The September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows is an organization founded by family members of 9/11 victims who have joined together to transform our (and especially their's) grief into action for peace and justice. They have published a primer on the Afghanistan issue that provides a detailed look at the situation in Afghanistan.

Military Families Speak Out is an organization of people opposed to the war in Iraq who have relatives or loved ones who are currently in the military or who have served in the military since the buildup to the Iraq war in the fall of 2002. They have published an Afghanistan Education packet.

Robert Dreyfuss is a Nation contributing editor and an investigative journalist specializing in politics and national security. He is the author of "Devil's Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam". The piece he wrote this past December titled "Obama's Afghan Dilemna" is still very pertinent.

Additional resources are located at United for Peace and Justice. A must read is a down-loadable Word document titled Why are we bombing Pakistan. Please read it!!!!

Call President Obama and your Congressperson today, and tell them that we must end military aid to Pakistan, that we want a reduction of troop levels in Afghanistan, a rapid withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and Iraq, and a commitment to diplomacy!

Congressional Switchboard: 202-224-3121

White House Comments: 202-456-1111

Switchboard: 202-456-1414

Online comment submission is at : http://www.whitehouse.gov/Contact/


Democracy only works from the bottom up. We can take action and help encourage the new administration to escalate peaceful alternatives and oppose the increase in military force.