Tulsa Peace Fellowship

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

In light of the death of Osama Bin Laden I think we should emphasize the "Out of Afghanistan"message..Mo Osama,no Al Kaeda there so lets leave..

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Seize the Moment.

This week’s killing of Osama bin Laden marks a morbid milestone, one that challenges us to freshly examine the legacy of 9/11 and the Global War on Terror.

The death of one man will not bring back the thousands killed on 9/11 or the hundreds of thousands killed as a result of US actions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, and elsewhere. This moment offers us all an invitation to turn from violence, retribution, and war, to embrace peaceful alternatives.

This is the time for a speedy withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan as a first step in bringing this decade-long tragedy to an end. Sadly, right now some legislators are trying to expand the war on terror.

We have to make a choice between war and peace.

Please write your member of Congress now to insist they oppose H.R. 968, and tell them now is the time to end — not expand — the wars.

H.R. 968, introduced by Rep. Buck McKeon, chair of the House Armed Services Committee, would allow the President to wage war against anyone deemed associated with al-Qaeda and the Taliban anywhere in the world. It would effectively prevent the closure of the prison at Guantanamo and other military prisons while increasing the military’s power to target organizations they claim are affiliated with terrorism, and to detain people — including US citizens — indefinitely, all without judicial or congressional oversight.

While the news focuses on this week’s killing, this proposal is moving forward with little public attention or response. We expect the sponsors will move to insert it into other defense legislation soon, and then it may be too late for Congress to hear from us.

The time to act is now.

Wage peace,
Peter Lems and Mary Zerkel
American Friends Service Committee

PS: Please see our Wage Peace Facebook page and the Afghanistan 101 blog for further analysis and updates.

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follow-up on that event in OKC posted here on this network, 3 years ago, with Greg Mortensen:

Western leaders have taken particular pride in supposed advances in Afghan education since the defeat of the Taliban in 2001, in schools built and students enrolled by the millions. (The U.S. Agency for International Development alone spent $934 million on Afghan education in the last 12 years.) But UNICEF reports that almost half the “schools” supposedly built or opened have no actual buildings, and in those that do, students double up on seats and share antiquated texts. Teachers are scarce and fewer than a quarter of those now teaching are considered “qualified,” even by Afghanistan’s minimal standards. Impressive school enrollment figures determine how much money a school gets from the government, but don’t reveal the much smaller numbers of enrollees who actually attend. No more than 10% of students, mostly boys, finish high school. In 2012, according to UNICEF, only half of school-age children went to school at all.

Advances in Afghan health care have been another source of Western donors’ pride. But dramatic claims that 85% of Afghans now have access to basic health care turn out to mean only that something called a “health care facility” exists in 85% of Afghan districts, many of which are enormous. Tens of thousands of Afghans now have “access” to health care facilities only because they fled their war-torn provinces for refugee camps on the fringes of major cities. The country’s high rates of maternal and infant mortality have slightly improved but remain among the worst in the world. You have to wonder if Washington couldn’t have turned all that MRAP money to better purpose.

excerpted from:

The Forgotten War: 12 Years in Afghanistan Down the Memory Hole

By Ann Jones,

October 02, 2013

http://original.antiwar.com/engelhardt/2013/10/01/the-forgotten-war/

event posts for that 2010 event looked something like this (before Ning changed terms of service) - sorry for dead links :

Event: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace, One School At A Time
"Mission to Promote Peace, One School At A Time" will give a free public lecture at the University of Oklahoma - Norman campus on Thursday, April 22, 2010 at 10 a.m. http://eventful.com/events/three-cups-tea-author-greg-mortenson-com...
A person may reserve up to 4 tickets now at http://www.eventbrite.com/event/448141403.
HOW CHILDREN CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE: "PENNIES FOR PEACE"
Greg Mortenson's website for adults: www.ikat.org (Central Asia Institute) Greg Mortenson's website for youths: www.penniesforpeace.org - - Oklahoma teachers, youths, educators invited to support Mortenson's vision: - - THE NORMAN TRANSCRIPT reports: - - In conjunction with Greg Mortenson's visit to OU, Pennies for Peace's Oklahoma Chapter is encouraging children from Oklahoma schools, faith groups and youth organizations to begin their own Pennies for Peace campaign. - - The goal is to combine collections and have the children present their pennies to Mortenson during his public lecture at OU April 22, said Brenda Wheelock, co-chairwoman of Pennies for Peace-Oklahoma. - - Pennies for Peace is a service program sponsored by the Central Asia Institute, which Mortenson heads, and is designed to broaden students' cultural horizons and teach them their ability as philanthropists -- one penny at a time. - - To register a school or organization, visit www.penniesforpeace.org. - - Once a group has registered, contact Mary Francis, co-chairwoman of Pennies for Peace-Oklahoma, at mary.francisxxx (at) gmail.com to coordinate with the statewide drive. On April 12, Oklahoma participants will report their fundraising totals for presentation to Mortenson on April 22. - - A representative may be sent to participate in the presentation to Mortenson 10 a.m. April 22 ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** The Peace House Oklahoma asks: www.peacehouseok.org "Please forward this invitation to teachers, youths, educators" cross-posted from facebook: http://www.facebook.com/notes/nathaniel-batchelder/greg-mortenson-o...
Added by Tony Nuspl at 1:46pm on February 27, 2010
Comment on: Event 'One Man's Mission to Promote Peace, One School At A Time'
Pennies for Peace-Oklahoma drive. Tonight, Greg Mortenson told Mary Francis and I that he will use the money to build an "Okie" school in Pakistan or Afghanistan. Mary Francis and Brenda Wheelock created "Oklahoma Pennies For Peace" through which teachers, kids, religious educators collected "pennies," all presented to Greg Mortenson right before his Norman speech. You hadda been there! Photos on this link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=170508&id=546686539&l...
Added by Tony Nuspl at 3:39pm on April 23, 2010

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