<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="submitted" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-size: 0.8em;"><br>
</span><div class="content" style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 1.4em;"><p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.9em;"><a href="http://justicewithpeace.org/stop-escalation" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 153);"><img alt="Say No to Escalation" src="http://justicewithpeace.org/files/u1/no_escalation_100.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; position: relative;" align="left" height="83" hspace="10" vspace="10" width="100"></a>News reports make it clear that President Obama has ordered another 30,000 troops to Afghanistan in an attempt to defeat the Taliban insurgency.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.9em;">Exactly what we feared has indeed happened: a Democratic president, elected on a wave of antiwar sentiment, has betrayed his supporters. He has bought into the logic of the generals and the military-industrial complex, who say that they can bring security if they are only given more troops, more resources, and more billions.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.9em;">As he has escalated from 43,000 troops to over 100,000, Afghanistan is now Obama's war.</p><p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.9em;">This war is wrong. it causes unacceptable casualties, is unaffordable, it is unwinnable, it is making conditions worse for the Afghan people it claims to help, it feeds corruption and the drug trade, and it does not make Americans safer.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.9em;"><a href="http://justicewithpeace.org/stop-escalation" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 153);"><img alt="" src="http://justicewithpeace.org/files/u1/StopTheAfghanistanWarSign3.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; position: relative;" align="right" height="194" hspace="5" vspace="5" width="299"></a>With pain, anger and sorrow, we must respond publicly to this outrageous decision. United for Justice with Peace and Stop the Wars Coalition will<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://justicewithpeace.org/stop-escalation" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 153);">demonstrate Wednesday evening at Boston Common</a>. Gather at the<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><strong>Brewer Fountain on Tremont St., near Park Street Station, Wednesday, May 2, from 5-7 p.m.</strong><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>for a moving picket line. Bring banners, signs, costumes, musical instruments, and pots and pans. </p>
<p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.9em;">Speakers will include Nate Goldshlag of Veterans for Peace; Sarah Fuhro of Military Families Speak Out; and Afghan-American woman student Maryam Shansab. Singer-songwriter Simón Rios, just back from his appearance at the School of the Americas Protest at Ft. Benning, GA, will perform anti-war songs.</p>
<div>Community peace groups have also scheduled local protests this week:</div><ul><li>Dorchester: <a href="http://justicewithpeace.org/node/785" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 153);">Tues 4:30-6pm, Fields Corner</a>. </li>
<li>Worcester:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://justicewithpeace.org/node/788" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 153);">Weds 4:30, Lincoln Square</a>.</li><li>Gloucester:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://justicewithpeace.org/node/792" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 153);">Weds 4:30-6:30, Gloucester Rotary</a>, exit 11 on 128N</li>
<li>Falmouth: <a href="http://justicewithpeace.org/node/804" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 153);">Weds 5-6, Town Hall</a></li><li>Cambridge:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://justicewithpeace.org/node/786" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 153);">Weds 5:30-6:30, Central Square</a>. <br>
<span></span></li><li>Andover:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://justicewithpeace.org/node/787" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 153);">Weds 7-8pm, Main St, Old Town Hall</a>.</li>
<li>Newton:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://justicewithpeace.org/node/783" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 153);">Thurs 5pm, Newton Center</a>. </li><li>Arlington:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://justicewithpeace.org/node/782" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 153);">Saturday 10:30am, Broadway Plaza</a></li>
<li>Newburyport:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://justicewithpeace.org/node/794" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 153);">Sunday 12 noon-1pm, Market Square</a></li>
</ul><p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.9em;"><img alt="" src="http://justicewithpeace.org/files/u1/ObamaHope.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; position: relative;" align="left" height="186" hspace="5" vspace="5" width="200">We oppose the Afghanistan war because: </p>
<ul><li>298 U.S. soldiers lost their lives so far in 2009. Tens of thousands of returning troops are damaged by physical injury, PTSD, psychological damage, suicides, and domestic violence. There is a backlog of up to 1 year for veterans waiting for VA care.</li>
<li>The war is unaffordable. The White House says we are paying $1million a year for each soldier sent to Afghanistan. At that price, the war will soon cost $100 billion a year. Yet Congress is not willing to pay that kind of money for health care, jobs, housing, or environmental protection.</li>
<li>The war is making conditions worse for the Afghan people. UNICEF reported last week that eight years after the start of U.S. military occupation, Afghanistan is the world's worst place to be born. Afghanistan has the highest infant mortality rate in the world -- 257 deaths per 1,000 live births - and 70 percent of the population lacks access to clean water. Afghanistan ranked 181st out of 182 countries in the UN's human development index for 2009. The presence of U.S. troops breeds resistance, conflict, and instability.</li>
<li>The war is not helping Afghan women, whose conditions are as bad as ever. The government turns a blind eye to rape and violence against women. Civilian casualties, who are primarily women and children, are rising each year as the violence increases, including from drones and air strikes.</li>
<li>War funding is feeding corruption, private armies, and the drug trade. The more money the U.S. and NATO pour into Afghanistan, the greater the rake-offs and corruption among U.S. contractors and the U.S.-supported Afghan government. President Karzai's re-election was confirmed even though his supporters had stuffed boxes with more than one million fake ballots. Five ministers in Karzai's cabinet have been given immunity from prosecution for corruption.</li>
<li>The war is unwinnable. As U.S. troop levels have grown from 15,000 in 2004 to 68,000 now and 100,000 next year, more and more Afghans have joined the Taliban and resistance groups to defend against foreign invaders. Yet<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em>The Nation</em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>reported last week that the U.S. military cannot even protect the trucks which bring gasoline and other supplies to outlying U.S. bases, and that contractors are paying protection of $800 to $1500 per truck to the Taliban.</li>
</ul><div>We can and will stop this war. We will pressure Congress to defund the military. We will reach out to our neighbors and communities. We will involve new sectors in the campaign for peace and against militarism. We will show how the war issue is linked to climate change, jobs, healthcare, housing, the military budget, and other wars and occupations. </div>
<div> </div><div><a href="http://justicewithpeace.org/stop-escalation" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 153);">Join us Wednesday, Dec. 2, 5-7 p.m.</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>at Park Street Station as we say loud and clear: Mr. President, STOP THE AFGHANISTAN WAR!</div>
</div></span></span><br>-- <br>Cosponsors:<br><br>United for Justice with Peace<br><a href="http://www.justicewithpeace.org">www.justicewithpeace.org</a><br>617-491-4UJP<br><a href="mailto:ujpcoalition@gmail.com">ujpcoalition@gmail.com</a><br>
<br>Greater Boston Stop the Wars Coalition<br><a href="http://www.stopthewars.org">www.stopthewars.org</a><br><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;"><a href="mailto:info@stopthewars.org" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(166, 0, 0);">info@stopthewars.org</a><br>
617-230-9382</span></span><br><br><br>