|
October 4, 2012
Dear Friends,
In
48 hours the CODEPINK delegation here in Pakistan will
join thousands of Pakistani people in our peace march to
Waziristan, the epicenter of US drone attacks. Our march this Sunday, October 7, takes place on the same day that the US invaded Afghanistan 11 years ago.
To
ensure the safety of our delegation and keep pressuring
our government to stop killer drone attacks, we are
sending a letter to President Obama and key
representatives. Will you join us in sending this letter?
Send your letter to Obama now!
We will also hand-deliver your signed letter to
President Obama at his event in the Bay Area on Monday.
I
arrived in Pakistan yesterday but it seems we've done a
week's worth of actions already! Yesterday our full
CODEPINK delegation of 35 activists from all over the US
arrived in Islamabad. The American Charge D'Affaires
Ambassador to Pakistan visited us at our hotel; I was
able to give him a copy of my drone book and we delivered
the CODEPINK and Just Foreign Policy petitions with over
6,000 signatures calling for an end to drone strikes. Unfortunately, the Ambassador made the shocking claim that he believes "few, if any"
civilian casualties have resulted from the drone
strikes, which shows that we still have a lot of work to
do.
We
also met with two victims from the first drone strike
conducted during Obama's presidency on January 23, 2009,
which killed nine people--all civilians. One victim is
Fahim Qureshi, who lost an eye, and had to have abdominal
surgery because the drone missile pierced his stomach.
He also lost 4 members of his family. The other victim is
Mohammad Ejaz, who lost 2 family members.
Thanks to all of you who donated so generously to our medical aid fund for survivors of drone attacks. There's still time to contribute if you haven't already. Every dollar counts. Donate here.
We've
received an overwhelming welcome from Pakistainis who
are heartened that we've come all this way in solidarity
and to apologize for the drone strikes that have brought
so much death and destruction to this beautiful country.
When we met with the women's contingent of PTI, the
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Party coordinating the march,
together we said, “We will not raise our children to kill another mother's child” -- the famous line from the Mother's Day Proclamation. Our trip has already made news from The Guardian to C-Span, to many outlets in Pakistan and the US. And news of the damage of drone attacks is also spreading, particularly in this report released this week from NYU and Stanford.
March with us in solidarity by joining an Afghanistan War Anniversary protest action near you.
We can feel your support here in Pakistan and are so grateful to you all for standing with us!
Love and solidarity,
Medea Benjamin
CODEPINK founding co-director
PS: Can you take a moment now to share our letter to Obama and news from our trip with your friends on facebook and twitter?
|
