11 Years In Afghanistan, 11 Years Too Many
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October 7, 2012 marked the 11th year anniversary of the war in Afghanistan, a war which was triggered by the events on September 11, 2001 and that has lasted longer than any other U.S. war to date. It has devastated millions of people, cost trillions of dollars and the loss of more than 2,123 American soldiers and more than 3,000 troops from the international coalition. The number of American deaths does not include suicides, which happen at an alarming rate in the U.S. military. Soldiers that survive battle often return home with multiple injuries and post traumatic stress disorder and face long, challenging and costly recoveries.
Last week, members of Military Families Speak Out (MFSO), an organization of families with loved ones in the military; The Leonia Peace Group, which has been in existence since the first Sunday after 9/11; and The Fort Lee Peace Vigil, which launched in 2006, commemorated the anniversary of the tragic war in Afghanistan at The Teaneck Vigil. The groups joined together to protest the war in Afghanistan and a possible war in Iran and marked the occasion making anti-war statements and reading out loud a list of those killed in the military from New Jersey. Afterwards, some peace activists placed flowers on the army tanks that sit before the Teaneck Armory, the location of The Teaneck Vigil.
The vigil for Afghanistan was followed by other weekend actions by local peace groups demanding an immediate end to the war in Afghanistan and opposing increased hostilities on Iran.
john ready
10:06 pm on Monday, October 8, 2012
What is there to say. Afghanistan is our modern-day Vietnam. We were damned the moment we joined this conflict. Countless innocent lives lost. Way past time to pull out, President O.
William Mays
10:45 pm on Monday, October 8, 2012
Now, I can't agree with Iraq, but were we just supposed to tell Al-Queda, "Oh you can come and kill all the people you want here, and there won't be any consequences."
Baba O'Riley
4:31 pm on Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Arya, please look at these events: the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center, the 1998 attack on 2 U.S. embassies in Africa, the 2000 attack on the U.S.S. Cole and the attack on 9/11 (World Trade Center, Pentagon and Shanksville). How do you propose the United States deal with these attacks? Appeasement like the English and French did with Hitler and Nazi Germany? We know how well that worked. Or more the way Israel defends itself from the Radical Muslims! If al-Qaeda carried out these attacks and they are / were based in Afghanistan and are / were protected by the Taliban (the govementment) and they (the Taliban) will not give up al-Qaeda; what do you do propose on doing? Let the guilty parties walk. The first 3 attacks were ramp-ups to the 9/11 attack; funny thing is that no serious attacks have been launched against the U.S. since we hit Afghanistan. Yes 11 years is a long time; but it is not the longest war we have fought. That would be the Indian Wars which lasted from 1790 to 1891. In this case we have turned to nation building (for better or for worse) and that takes a long time (especially in a country like Afghanistan which is worlds apart from Germany, Italy and Japan after World War II). I do respect your point and sincerity.