Tulsa Peace Fellowship

There never was a good war or a bad peace. ~Ben Franklin

Call For Local Actions on 6th Anniversary of War in Iraq -- In 2009, What Would Dr. King Do?

Call For Local Actions on 6th Anniversary of War in Iraq
Source: www.unitedforpeace.org

United For Peace and Justice calls on groups large and small in cities, towns and rural communities all across the country to take public action on the 6th anniversary of the war. We must send a strong, unequivocal message to the new Administration and the new Congress: the people of this country want the war to end, and to end now! It is also time to raise our voices against the U.S. war in Afghanistan.

Our campaign is a call for a new set of national priorities rooted in the vision and values of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. -- a world without racism, poverty, or war. To honor his work -- as well as our work of the last six years -- we are committing ourselves to working across race, class, and gender lines to build a massive people's movement with the power to help make sure the Obama administration and the U.S. Congress are in alignment with the will of the people.


Click here to download a PDF file of Dr. King's "Beyond Vietnam" speech. You can also listen to audio from Dr. King's speech while reading along to the text.

Martin Luther King, Jr: A Time to Break Silence (Declaration Against the Vietnam ...
Source: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkatimetobreaksilence.htm.
Audio of Dr. King's 'Beyond Vietnam' speech!

Dr. King's 'Beyond Vietnam' Speech
Source: http://stanford.edu/group/King/publications/speeches/Beyond_Vietnam.pdf
This is a PDF file of Dr. King's 'Beyond Vietnam' speech on April 4, 1967 at Riverside Church, NYC.

Building this kind of power and movement starts from the bottom-up with local organizing and building relationships and alliances that are rooted in respect and real solidarity.

Click here for a set of anti-war posters you can download and reproduce and click here for a leaflet that draws heavily from King's speech against the war in Vietnam and is still relevant today.

More materials and resources will be made available that connect issues of war, the economy and the environmental state of the world. Think about how you can create space where your community can come together and discuss these vital issues. Table at local events, knock on your neighbors' doors, and plan town-hall meetings.


Further information from the UFPJ Afghanistan Working Group :

ESCALATION: Bad for Them, Bad for Us

Obama and Our New Congress Must Take Bold Action to Keep Hope Alive for Afghan Peace

We are pleased that President Obama has already made good on some of his campaign promises. In his second day on the job he reversed policy on U.S. detention and interrogation practices; empowered a task force to review existing detention policies and the lawful disposition of detainees in U.S. custody; and ordered the closing of the torture-stained U.S. prison at Guantánamo Bay. There is one promise Barack Obama must break: his commitment to increase U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan.

We encourage you to join the growing call for the Obama Administration and Congress to stop the escalation and end the war in Afghanistan.


* There is no "military solution" in Afghanistan. Obama's advisors say the war in Afghanistan "cannot be won on the battlefield” and military think tanks like the Rand Corporation agree that political, local law enforcement and peacekeeping solutions are a more effective alternative to increases in foreign military force. Pentagon plans to send 30,000 troops will expand 7 years of failed U.S. strategy in Afghanistan. Ultimately, Afghan security must be led by Afghans.


* Afghanistan has been the training ground for U.S. torture. The torture of detainees by the U.S. did not originate at Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo. These practices were exported from Bagram Air Base and other military prisons in Afghanistan. More military activity will mean more detentions, even while there is no policy to process the 600 currently held without charges at Bagram.


* Americans, Europeans and Afghans do not support foreign military escalation that will cost many lives. At least 18,000 Afghans have been killed since the U.S. invasion and tens of thousands of innocent people have been injured. Civilian casualties foster resentment among Afghans and distrust of their own government and U.S. forces. Nearly 1,100 U.S. and “coalition” troops have been killed in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion. Over 2/3 of the people of this country oppose increasing troops in Afghanistan, and a majority of Europeans want their troops to return from this disastrous NATO mission.


We must lead in a new direction. For 8 long years, the antiwar movement laid the groundwork for ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and redirecting military spending. We welcome President Obama’s commitment to take our nation in a new direction. However, his course on Afghanistan must be altered now with bold and principled action, which helps address the Afghan’s real need for health care, clean water and education, instead of continuing to cripple Afghanistan with more years of war. Now, we must make the United States radically change its failed policy in Afghanistan.


The first step to ending the occupation in Afghanistan is to stop increasing troops!

Call President Obama and your Congressperson today, and tell them that together we must stop the military buildup and completely withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

Congressional Switchboard: 202-224-3121 White House Comments: 202-456-1111 Switchboard: 202-456-1414

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Comment by Tony Nuspl on March 20, 2009 at 10:32am


HEALTHCARE NOT WARFARE
sign the petition
http://pdamerica.org/articles/misc/2008-02-29-14-19-42-misc.php

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