ANTI-WAR GROUPS DEMAND END TO AFGHAN WAR, DEMONSTRATE AT THE WHITE HOUSE
For Immediate Release: October 1, 2009
Contact:
Frida Berrigan, 347-683-4928, frida.berrigan [at] gmail.com
Jeremy Varon, 732-979-3119, Jvaron [at] aol.com
Washington – As the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan begins its ninth year, national anti-war groups join together for a day of nonviolent direct action on Monday, October 5th at the White House.
Alarmed by the recent troop build-up and the prospect of an even greater military escalation there, the War Resisters League—the oldest secular pacifist organization in the United States—joins the coalition planning this day of action to express disappointment with President Barack Obama’s unwillingness to significantly change course from the Bush administration in Afghanistan.
| Who | Anti-War Coalition includes the War Resisters League, National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance, Code Pink, Peace Action, World Can’t Wait, Veterans for Peace and Voices for Creative Nonviolence |
| When | Monday, October 5, 2009 |
| What | Rally at McPherson Square - 10:30 am |
| March to White House for Protest, Presidential Letter Delivery and Nonviolent Direct Action - 11:45 am |
Lifelong war resister Liz McAlister of Jonah House (Baltimore, Maryland) will be the featured speaker at the McPherson Square Rally. Joining the coalition for this day of action is Cindy Sheehan, whose son Casey Sheehan was killed in Iraq in 2004 while serving in the U.S. Army.
The White House action — the first such protest aimed specifically at the war in Afghanistan — comes at a time when domestic support for the war is dissipating and members of Congress are asking the Obama administration to rethink its entire approach.
“This war increasingly appears unwinnable, unnecessary, and misguided,” says Frida Berrigan, WRL member from Brooklyn, New York, “and it reinforces our belief that all war is unwinnable, and is a crime against humanity. It is costing billions, killing thousands and stoking hatred against the United States.”
The coalition will deliver a letter to the president and request a meeting with him at 11:45 a.m. on Monday, October 5th. If the meeting is refused, dozens of peace and justice activists are prepared to risk arrest in the tradition of Gandhi, Dr. King, and Dorothy Day, in order to persuade the commander-in-chief to meet their demands.
The October 5 Coalition demands that the United States:
1. Cease combat operations and military occupation of Afghanistan and end military operations in Pakistan
2. Close the prison at Bagram Air Base, releasing the hundreds of people who have been held without charge, and prosecuting suspected terrorists in civilian courts. The administration also needs to accelerate its efforts to shut down Guantanamo
3. Participate in international aid efforts, particularly for medical assistance and infrastructure reconstruction in Afghanistan.
4. Re-appropriate the money being spent on wars in Afghanistan and Iraq for constructive programs in the U.S. and abroad, such as health care and housing for the poor.
Believing war to be a crime against humanity, the War Resisters League, founded in 1923, advocates Gandhian nonviolence as the method for creating a democratic society free of war, racism, sexism, and human exploitation. www.warresisters.org
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