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20 Years Later, the Afghan War
is Not Really Over
Friday, October 8, 2021 5:00 - 6 PM
at the Weekly Friday Rally for Peace and Justice
Pioneer Courthouse Square, SW Yamhill and Broadway
please mask up and stay distanced for safety
Nothing illustrates the US' indifference to using violence to enforce its
policies better than the drone strike that took place as they were
clearing out of Afghanistan at the end of August. The military has
admitted that strike killed 10 civilians, mostly children, and that none
of them were combatants. As the Intercept put it on August 30,
"While the withdrawal of American troops can be described as the end to the war in Afghanistan, the Kabul strike shows how the war may simply enter a new chapter, with the US striking targets with aircraft launched from faraway drone bases."
Similar to the Korean War, which began in 1950 but continues because it ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty, and the US war on Iraq, which has existed in various forms since 1991, the Afghan war promises to continue for years to come. In fact, because the Taliban and Al Qaeda have roots in the US efforts to oust Russia from Afghanistan, some say the war there has been going on since 1979.
The Friday Rally for Peace and Justice began less than a month after the invasion of Afghanistan, when Portland Peaceful Response Coalition began to gather at Pioneer Courthouse Square every week. It has continued from Nov. 2001 to the present, with PJW's Iraq Affinity Group hosting since the COVID lockdown began in March, 2020. This rally will mark 1041 consecutive weeks of protesting America's unnecessary, illegal, and murderous foreign wars, police brutality, environmental destruction and other connected issues.
The October 8 event is coordinated by Peace and Justice Works Iraq Affinity Group. For more information, or if your group would like to cosponsor or endorse this event, contact Peace and Justice Works at 503-236-3065 or iraq@pjw.info.