Special Opportunity: Audiobridge with Afghanistan Delegation Members TODAY |
SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY TODAY Journalists can access this call at 218-936-4700, code 895538. Returning from Kabul, Afghanistan, CODEPINK founders Jodie Evans and Medea Benjamin co-host a call for media to report back about their trip, and will take questions regarding their first-hand Afghan accounts.
ON AFGHAN WAR ANNIVERSARY, CODEPINK women's delegation, just back from Afghanistan, brings back call from Afghan women to focus on economic needs, not war (October 6, WASHINGTON D.C.) - CODEPINK founders Jodie Evans and Medea Benjamin just returned from a trip to Afghanistan convinced that sending 40,000 more U.S. troops would be disastrous for Afghan women and children. “After eight years of U.S. military presence, Afghan women told us more troops will just mean more civilian deaths and more Taliban,” says CODEPINK cofounder Medea Benjamin. “Afghan women want peace talks and economic development, not endless war.” “We were told that most men join the Taliban out of economic desperation; providing jobs will do more for security then spending billions on more troops,” says CODEPINK's Jodie Evans. “It's time to change our military focus to a focus on improving the health, education and welfare of the Afghan people.” The CODEPINK delegation returned with pleas from the Afghan women to President Obama that they will post on YouTube. Among the Afghan women who asked Obama not to send more troops are members of Parliament Dr. Roshnak Wardak and Shukria Barakzai, the Minister of Women's Affairs Husn Bano Ghazanfar, Surya Parlika of the Afghan Womens Network and businesswoman Wazhma Karzai, who is President Karzai's sister-in-law. “The protection of Afghan women is often used to justify our military presence, but we have an astounding array of Afghan women who said that sending more U.S. troops is not the answer,” said Evans. “President Obama should listen to these women.” CODEPINK Founders Medea Benjamin and Jodie Evans are available for interview. Contact Suzanne Stenson O'Brien, 612-868-7619, suzanneo@codepinkalert.org For more information visit http://www.codepinkalert.org/article.php?list=type&type=400 ### |
