BY KATELYN FERRAL, Raleigh News & Observer
RALEIGH — A coalition of North Carolina faith and justice groups marked the passage of nine years in the U.S. war in Afghanistan on Thursday with a call for peace and a vigil for dead servicemen and Afghans.
N.C. Peace Action, along with the Muslim American Society and N.C. Council of Churches, held the vigil at Community United Church of Christ in Raleigh, and also rallied to redirect the money spent on war toward domestic initiatives.
“We must rethink the war in Afghanistan,” said David LaMotte, program associate for the N.C. Council of Churches, which represents more than 6,200 Christian congregations from 17 denominations throughout the state. “The cost is great, and the benefit is hard to find. It’s tragic stuff.”
More than 30 people attended the event, which was a part of an international effort by the national chapter of Peace Action, which calls itself the nation’s largest grass-roots peace group. The organization is hosting events nationwide through Sunday, and also Thursday held an event in Greensboro.
“The American presence there has not helped the Afghanistan people; it has worsened it,” said Khalilah Sabra, president of the Muslim American Society. “How long do civilians have to suffer?”
This is the first year the groups have marked the anniversary of the war in Afghanistan, but after more troops were sent to the country earlier this year, they thought it was time to rally and send a message to legislators, said Betsy Crites, director of N.C. Peace Action.
“We’re seeing the futility of all the military efforts that are especially pronounced after the surge,” she said about the recent troop increase in Afghanistan. “It’s becoming increasingly obvious that the military approach is not working.”
N.C. Peace Action leaders invited participants to sign a letter to elected officials at the event, which outlined alternatives to war and some ideas for pulling out of Afghanistan. The group asked for legislators and political candidates to re-direct war funds to schools and other domestic issues.
So far, $100 billion has been spent on the war in Afghanistan, and North Carolina’s contribution is $3.2 billion, according to the group. That money could be used to build the country’s infrastructure and support organizations in America, Crites said.
“We believe this war is misguided and has unachievable goals,” she said.
Click here to read this article at the Raleigh News & Observer.
Imagine the shock I experienced this evening when I visited your site for the first time hoping to find a kindred spirit in my search to develop services to homeless and/or unemployed veterans. I commend your vigil but must protest that among all your important task there is no mention of the plight of the veteran two of whom are sleeping under a church in downtown Durham. I met a pastor in Chatham County last month and asked when pastors stopped discussing right and wrong. His answer? IN THE MID-60’S PASTORS BEGAN TO PREACH WHAT A CONGREGATION WANTED TO HEAR RATHER THAN WHAT THEY NEEDED TO HEAR! Your agenda’s seem to reflect that same intent!
Dear Pat – thanks for your note, your concern for veterans, and your timely reminder of the plight of veterans and the importance of that element in this conversation. I can assure you that suffering of veterans was not left out of the concerns raised publicly at the vigil that day, nor is it absent from the hearts of those who were there, one of whom was a World War II vet. The fact that veterans’ difficulties weren’t mentioned here is not due to a lack of concern on the Council’s part, or the part of others who were involved in this vigil. This is a reprint of an article from the News & Observer, as noted below the header, and the reporter made her own choices regarding which parts of the story mattered. I encourage you to write a letter to the editor of the N & O about that concern.
Thanks for the work you’re doing to serve veterans and for being an important part of an important conversation.
There was also a 9th anniversary vigil in Fayetteville. An article was published with picture in the Fayetteville Observer the next day.