[Marxism] UFPJ opposes US troop increase in Afghanistan, urges "Diplomacy and De-escalation"

["Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

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UFPJ Calls For Diplomacy and De-Escalation in Afghanistan
Yesterday, President Obama announced his decision to send 17,000 additional
U.S. troops to Afghanistan, on the grounds that 'the situation in
Afghanistan and Pakistan demands urgent attention'. 
United For Peace and Justice strongly opposes this decision. We urge you to
immediately call on President Obama to choose diplomacy, not escalation. We
must let him know that a military solution is not the answer in Afghanistan.
Call 202-456-1111 today!
Tell the Administration that: 
1) You oppose the president's decision to send 17,000 more troops to
Afghanistan this week.

2) You want to see this administration take a new approach in Afghanistan,
which includes:
o Reducing troop levels in Afghanistan and rejecting the idea that there is
a military solution to the region's problems
o Rapidly withdrawing all U.S. troops from Afghanistan
o A commitment to diplomacy involving all major regional players, including
major international peace-keeping bodies
o Addressing the real needs of Afghans by funding improvements in
health-care, clean water, education, security, etc., through Afghan NGOs,
using local labor and services

UFPJ, and a majority of the U.S. and Afghan people, understand that military
escalation will only exacerbate the horrors that now plague the region and
that this escalation is not the answer for Afghanistan and it is not in the
interests of the United States.

Please make your call to the White House right now: 202-456-1111. To email
the White House, use this email address: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
BACKGROUND

Months ago, Afghan President Hamid Karzai called on the U.S. and NATO to
draft troop withdrawal plans, hoping to set an 'end-date' in the near-term
future. His call, thus far, and the call of large parts of the Afghan
people, has been ignored. Obama needs to hear that we expect him to take a
new approach to Afghanistan.

United For Peace and Justice has initiated a campaign highlighting the
connections between war, military spending, and the economy. Our opposition
to the U.S. war in Afghanistan will now play a heightened role in this
campaign, front-and-center, including in the April 4 mobilization we are
organizing. We strongly urge Obama to reverse his initial commitment to send
more U.S. troops to Afghanistan and instead forge a new path of just and
peaceful diplomacy and de-escalation.
To build increased support for this campaign and the April 4 mobilization,
we urge you to utilize the tools being created by the UFPJ Afghanistan
Working Group. Last week, the Afghanistan Working Group released a fact
sheet breaking down the problems with escalation in Afghanistan -- this is
the time to distribute it! This is the first in a series of fact sheets
meant to help local organizing. Click here for the "Escalation" fact sheet,
and click here to go to the Afghanistan Working Group webpage for more
resources, information, and talking points. 
[go to www.unitedforpeace.org for these items --FF]
 
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Help us continue to do this critical work: Make a donation to UFPJ today.
UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
www.unitedforpeace.org | 212-868-5545
PO Box 607; Times Square Station; New York, NY 10108

To subscribe, visit www.unitedforpeace.org/email




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