I have highlighted some portions of this e-mail to add to conversations at blogs at which I have been posting this information.
...Many groups have mobilized thousands of calls to the White House to plead for no escalation and for an end to the occupation of Afghanistan. It appears that the President is not listening to the people and will indeed escalate the war. If that is the announcement made on Tuesday, there will be demonstrations across the country the following day. Please join us.
President Obama will not be going to West Point on Tuesday to announce the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan. Instead, it is widely anticipated that he will be doing his best to sell the escalation of the war to the U.S. people.
This will be a tragic moment in our history and for the future of our country, Afghanistan and other nations.
As even many leading figures in the Democratic Party recognize, the war and its escalation cannot make U.S. Americans safe. With the vast majority of Afghans alienated from the corrupt Karzai government and angered by the foreign military occupation, the war cannot bringing development, democracy, security, or women's rights to Afghanistan. It is killing Afghan civilians and U.S./NATO troops. It is stealing badly needed funds from housing, jobs, health care, and climate protection.
Call your Congressional Representative and Senators, who have the power to not fund what the President calls for, at 202-224-3121 or 202-225-3121. Tell them to demand
* A timeline for withdrawal of U.S./NATO forces
* No additional troops sent to Afghanistan
* Pursuit of talks with all parties to the conflict
* Provision of generous civilian-led development funds
President Obama will speak on TV at 8pm Tuesday night. Assuming that he will announce an escalation of troop levels, as predicted by the media, we will protest the next day, Wednesday, from 5-6 pm.
This is a grassroots movement that seems to have taken hold across the country, but it has found especially fertile ground in New England. For example, here are some planned sites for demonstrations:
Boston MA: Boston Common Brewer Fountain, Tremont St. Boston near Park St. Station
Providence RI: Burnside Park at the corner of Kennedy Plaza and Exchange Streets (the end toward the Post Office and Federal Court House).
Hartford CT: Federal Building, 450 Main Street
New Haven CT: Federal Building, 150 Court Street
Worcester MA: Weds 4:30, Lincoln Square.
Portland ME: Monument Square, Congress Street
Portsmouth NH: Market Square
Cape Cod towns MA: Gather at every town hall at the time above, unless your town has a different event listed below....
Dorchester MA: Tues 4:30-6pm, Fields Corner.
Gloucester MA: Weds 4:30-6:30, Gloucester Rotary, exit 11 on 128N
Cambridge MA: Weds 5:30-6:30, Central Square.
Andover MA: Weds 7-8pm, Main St, Old Town Hall.
Newton MA: Thurs 5pm, Newton Center.
Arlington MA: Saturday 10:30am, Broadway Plaza
Newburyport MA: Sunday 12 noon-1pm, Market Square
Bangor ME: Margaret Chase Smith Federal Building @ 202 Harlow Street
................
Here is another listing of some participating cities. You will note some duplicates but some are in other areas. Maybe others here can fill in details as to where to go in their areas?
Protests are scheduled at 40 cities including Allentown, Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Colorado Springs, Columbus OH, Detroit, Eugene OR, Greensboro, Harrisburg, Hartford, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Madison WI; Miami, New Haven, New Paltz, New York City, Newark, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland ME, Portsmouth NH, Richmond, San Francisco, Seattle, Teaneck NJ.
Ah, New York City, you see? Indeed! Here is the information for those demonstrations:
Wed Dec 2, 2009 @ 6 pm:
In Staten Island: Arthur Kill and Richmond Avenue
In Manhattan: Times Square, U.S. Army Recruiting Station
And more... with highlights for an item I found particularly noteworthy:
In South Jersey, the protest will be led by high school students and is scheduled at 7:00 PM at the Monument, located at Albany and Ventnor Avenues, in Atlantic City.
In Bryn Mawr PA, there will be a Vigil from 5:00-6:00 PM at the corner of Bryn Mawr and Lancaster Avenues, by the Bryn Mawr library.
In Morrisville NJ there will be a Candlelight Vigil from 5:00-6:00 PM on Bridge Street on the Morrisville side of the "Trenton Makes, the World Takes Bridge."
The press release announcing those latter protests has a particularly salient paragraph (again, my highlight):
The US estimates that there are just 16,000 Taliban fighters in Afghanistan. The US, NATO and Afghan soldiers and police forces number over 270,000, with air power and highly sophisticated weapons that the Taliban don't have. If they can't be defeated with that, it is highly unlikely that another US escalation will defeat them. President Obama must stand up to military advisors, as President Johnson didn't during Vietnam, refuse escalation, and instead order a humanitarian surge.
Don't feel left out, Desert Southwest!
Phoenix AZ: The intersection of 24th Street and Camelback Road Phoenix
Candlelight Vigil starting around 5:30 p.m.
Bring: candles, signs opposing the Afghanistan escalation and where you believe our money could be better used, drums and other musical instruments. If you have one, wear your "War is Costly, Peacs is Priceless" t-shirt.
And here is a very good list of events in cities and towns around the nation, from Florida to Colorado, Texas to Missouri, and yes - at the White House.
I hope you will add information that you may have as to events held near you... maybe even one you have created! Please use this diary as a space to coordinate any protest you feel might be effective in your area.
To recap:
*first came public information and education
*next come phone calls to national leaders requesting policy changes (and no, you do not need to use the suggested ones from above. The point is not so much what you say as it is coordinating when it is said. Strength in numbers)
*now come local grassroots protests
*next...(as we all know will be necessary)?
If those who are in unity with the idea of stopping this war can act together and acknowledge this new beginning, perhaps something can get done. Please don't sit on the sidelines. Consider action. Now.
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