11 Years In Afghanistan, 11 Years Too Many

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.