February 25, 2010


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February 25, 2010

Dear CODEPINKer,

For those who know or have lost a loved one serving in Afghanistan or Iraq, this week’s milestone of the 1000th US death in Operation Enduring Freedom struck deep. However, it is not just the family members of soldiers and countless Afghan families for whom these two wars are an open wound. The coffers of our towns, states and nation are bleeding; domestic programs which enrich and lift up the lives of Americans are being cut at an alarming rate with hardly any debate. Our tax dollars have purchased Predator and Reaper Drones, padded the pockets of Eric Prince and Blackwater mercenaries, Halliburton and the “too-big-to-fail” banks at the expense of our communities, our main streets, our small businesses, our neighbors’ homes.

As we proceed with our current military offensive in Helmand Province -- the very one touted by McChrystal, our President, Pentagon officials and the media as the first step toward “victory” in Afghanistan -- let's not foget the thousands of Afghan civilians who have died in Operation Enduring Freedom, including 39 civilians just last weekend from another disastrous NATO airstrike.

Won't you join us in writing to NATO Command and General Stanley McChrystal to tell them that this is an unacceptable toll?

What will we get for the billions of dollars that Congress is poised to fork over with the next bloated Defense budget? Will that money lead to peace and bring our loved ones home? Not as long as President Obama continues this hopeless escalation by using flawed military logic to make his decisions about Afghanistan (and Iraq.) There is simply no way that Afghanistan will be set on the road to peace as long as the budget funds military aggression when it should be funding development.

With the economic crisis, including the dilemma about how to pay for healthcare, more and more people on both the left and even the right are suggesting we end the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. At the recent CPAC conference, Cong. Ron Paul said we can’t afford to maintain an empire and called for an end to the “warfare state”. Let General McChrystal and NATO Command know TODAY, as we hit 1,006 dead, that their strategy will only bring more devastation and loss to those on all sides of the conflict.

With love and outrage and hope,
Dana, Emily, Farida, Gael, Gayle, Janna, Jodie, Medea, Nancy, Rae and Whitney

PS

  • Brownbaggers not Teabaggers! Here's a great way to put pressure on your Congressperson to stop funding war: Join with Progressive Democrats of America Brownbagger vigils across America! Vigils at Congressional district offices happen on the third Wednesday of each month. The next vigil will be March 17. Find a vigil near you here or start your own!
  • Kudos to Kelly in Mississippi who joined her local brownbag in vibrant pink (insert photo) and to Joellen in Detroit whose brown bag vigil doubled in size from one month to the next --from 16 people to 32! Her group aims to get 64 people next month!


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