The war and occupation of Afghanistan has become a critical part of UFPJ's work, in light of the escalation of troops by the Obama administration. UFPJ's stance on the conflict calls for an immediate U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan with a negotiated just settlement involving international parties, including regional neighbors.

The Afghanistan Working Group connects antiwar organizers nationwide, developing action plans, sharing organizing reports, and sharing information about the Afghanistan war and the movement to end it.   We have a discussion listserv and a biweekly conference call.   Write Ufpj-afghanistan-subscribe@lists.mayfirst.org to join our listserv or ufpjafghanistan@gmail.com for information.

Quick thoughts on yesterday's supplemental war funding vote July 27 2010:

Thanks to folks in this Working Group and the larger UFPJ network that did so much work on this war-funding vote.That effort had an impact-- in creating a visible, major bloc of war opponents inside the House of Representatives.

Given the outpouring of documents, which underscored the futility, wastefulness and brutality of the
Afghanistan War, its hard to be cheerful about the results.  These documents had been out for only two days, so Congressional representatives cannot plausibly claim to have forgotten them.  How much evidence do they need to change course?

That said, the 114 Nay votes (almost half of the President's own party) is an important achievement for the peace movement and a sign to the White House that its Afghanistan policy is in big trouble. Many news reports this morning are emphasizing the defection of so many Democrats and the fact that the President had to rely on the Republicans to get this done. Its also noteworthy that for the first time, many Congressional Democrats linked their opposition to the war with the cutbacks in domestic spending--challenging the priorities of the Administration in a way that offers a basis for future organizing.

United for Peace and Justice played a positive role in coordinating with national and local peace groups to produce this result. These combined efforts produced thousands of phone calls to the Congressional Switchboard. We don't have a reliable count, but based on some early information-- perhaps as many as
10,000 calls were generated in the space of two days.

Looking ahead: Yesterday's results highlights the need to build a stronger base. With a more insistent, mobilized public -the results yesterday would have been better. As many on this list have pointed out, opposition to the Afghanistan War is widespread, but passive. And there are millions of people across the country who fervently believe that the way to support the troops is to keep funding the military.

The challenge for us is how to make the war a "front-burner" issue? How do we link this work at the grass-roots level to people's deep concern about the economy? And how can we do this quickly?

Rusti and Gael
co-conveners of the Legislative Working Group, UFPJ

PS: one upcoming opportunity to link opposition to the war funding with the struggle for jobs, education  health care is the October 2 march in Washington DC. United for Peace and Justice has endorsed this effort and is urging folks in the cities, where organizing is taking place to participate in that  work.
http://www.onenationworkingtogether.org/main.aspxnd

Afghanistan War Weekly

Compiled by Frank Brodhead
Concerned Families of Westchester (NY)

MORE RESOURCES:

Wipe the Lipstick Off the Pig! flyer (NEW!)

A Peace and Solidarity Agenda for Afghanistan (NEW!) - print 4 pages, fold and insert

In Afghan Negotiations, Who’s at the Table? by Phyllis Bennis, May 2010. Behind Karzai’s visit to Washington: A real path to peace will involve a lot more players (and fewer soldiers). (NEW!)

Response to Obama's Afghanistan-Pakistan Strategy

FACT SHEETS:

'Escalation: Bad For Them, Bad For Us'

'Peaceful Alternatives'

'Why Are We Bombing Pakistan?'

'No More Taxpayers Dollars for Afghanistan War'

IMAGES TO DOWNLOAD:

'Stop Bombing Pakistan'

'Stop Airstrikes in Pakistan'

'Stop War in Afghanistan'

PRIMERS/BACKGROUNDERS:

'Why Obama's 'Af/Pak' Plan Can't Bring Peace'

Afghanistan Primer, September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows

MEDIA WORK:

Sample Letters to the Editors (prepared by Peace Action)

Sample Press Release 

VIDEOS:

Rethink Afghanistan

To aid your group in discussing the conflict, the Afghanistan Working Group has also put forth a series of discussion questions. These questions will be useful in engaging others in discussion on the conflict. It is recommended that the resource page aid you in answering these questions, as a backgrounder. Click here to take a look at the discussion questions and print them for group use.

You can also find other resources here.