Friday, December 4, 2009
3:30pm Rally at the Rochester War Memorial
4:30pm March to the Federal Building
my speech:
dear friends
the time has come for us to act. a majority of americans oppose the war in afghanistan. it’s a cruel, doomed war waged on the 4th poorest country of the world. a country which has been ravaged by war for more than 3 decades – to give u an idea, the war in afghanistan has lasted as long as the period starting with WW 1 and ending with WW 2. it’s unimaginable. there are 1 million widows in afghanistan with an average age of 35. when we started bombing afghanistan in 2001, there were at that time 700,000 disabled orphans there – children who had lost their parents to war and who had been blinded or crippled by chemicals and land mines. this is the country we went to war with.
an increase in troops will only destabilize the region further. when mr obama tells u that we are trying to stop the counterinsurgency by bolstering the occupation, pls understand that the occupation is what is fuelling the counterinsurgency. it’s a self fulfilling prophesy, a positive feedback loop. when mr obama tells u that we r trying to eliminate safe havens for al qaeda by escalating the war, pls remember that al qaeda is completely portable. the caves were empty when we got to afghanista and al qaeda will relocate once again to any part of the world. how many countries will we occupy to keep a handful of disaffected criminals out? when mr obama tells u that we will be able to build civilian society in afghanistan and democracy in pakistan in 18 months, pls don’t forget to laugh. this is the most ridiculous mission on earth. not only will it fail but it will have the exact opposite effect! finally when mr obama tells u that we will get out of afghanistan by july 2011, just remember that we were supposed to close guantanamo by january of this year! let’s get real.
this is a huge commitment for our country – in terms of lives, in terms of money, in terms of opportunity cost. the american economy is in shambles. people r hurting. the situation is v serious here at home. we cannot afford an additional 30,000 troops in afghanistan on top of countless contractors and private militia. the war in afghanistan is open ended. there r no clear, definitive objectives. it’s another vietnam. most americans understand that at an instinctive level. now let’s do something about this. let’s stand up and be heard. let’s make our voices count. let’s become the change we want!