| 7th October will mark the 17th anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan by the US, the UK and several of its allies. The war, which has now lasted four times longer than WW1, has brought untold misery, death and destruction. 456 British soldiers have been killed and, according to a conservative estimate, 217,000 Afgans have died as a direct result of the fighting. Although David Cameron proclaimed the UK military intervention in Afghanistan to be "mission completed" as long ago as 2014, the intervention in Afghanistan never ended. Over a thousand more UK soldiers have recently been deployed to the country. The war, apart from perpetuating the cycle of violence, has facilitated Afghanistan's further descent into poverty, environmental destruction and instability. We are calling for a day of action on Sunday 7th October to demand the immediate withdrawal of UK troops from Afghanistan. We are asking people and local Stop the War groups to organise street petitions, stunts and protests. In London we will be handing in a letter of protest on Friday 5th October at Downing Street. You can download the petition here. http://www.stopwar.org.uk/index.php/resources/petitions/3139-end-war-afghanistan |