Protest Rally against Increase in Troops in Afghanistan : Eight Years is Enough, We Stand for Peace!

Press Advisory for immediate release.

Contacts: Margaret Kingsbury, home phone 394-2054 or cell 281-7942 and Ann Francis, cell 517 410-1243

What: Protest Rally against Increase in Troops in Afghanistan :

Eight Years is Enough, We Stand for Peace!

Who: Greater Lansing Network Against War & Injustice (http://www.GLNAWI.org) and the Peace Education Center (http://www.PeaceEdCenter.org), and other local people standing for peace in Afghanistan .

Where: Median strip on corner of Grand River Ave. at Abbot Rd. , East Lansing

When: 5:00-6:00 pm, Wednesday, October 7, 2009

East Lansing, Michigan : The Greater Lansing Network Against War and Injustice (GLNAWI) and the Peace Education Center (PEC) call for a protest rally on Wednesday October 7th, in the median on the corner of Grand River and Abbot in East Lansing . We Stand for Peace! Eight Years is Enough.

The point of the rally is to protest any increase in U.S. troops in Afghanistan . We are concerned about the formulation of a policy that will not result in a lasting peace. Peace will not come about by an increase in troops, which is based on the notion of “winning” that consists in the “pacification” of Afghanistan , that is, the elimination of the Taliban and their support by military force. That policy did not work in Vietnam or Iraq ; nor will it work here. In fact, the continuance of escalation and military action will continue to provoke a response against the United States , not only in Afghanistan , but throughout many parts of the Muslim world where the vision of American domination of a Muslim nation is not welcomed. Pakistan is a good example of one such nation opposed to American hegemony in the region.

Instead, we favor more restrained, limited engagements, along the lines indicated by Vice-President Biden and Senator Carl Levin, who call for a halt in troop increases, retrenchment of U.S. positions, and ultimately diplomatic actions that will result in dialogue and reduction in tension in the region. We call for negotiation wherever and whenever possible.

We also recognize the difference between Al Qaeda and the Taliban. The U.S. was attacked by Al Qaeda, and has an international right to respond. Indeed, an international police action against Al Qaeda is what Vice-President Biden has proposed. But by focusing on defeating the Taliban throughout Afghanistan, the U.S. would be going beyond a response to Al Qaeda’s attack, and would mire us in hostilities throughout the region that could persist for an extremely long time, after which we would not have gained anything but hostility and hatred.