Minneapolis, MN – More than 40 anti-war protesters gathered here July 23 to express their opposition to President Obama’s surge of 21,000 troops in Afghanistan. Protesters held banners, chanted and handed out flyers to encourage other Minnesotans to speak out against the war and occupation in Afghanistan.

President Obama’s strategy in Afghanistan is to increase the amount of U.S. military troops and military operations. However, this course of action has also caused an increase in causalities. The surge has led to what the media has called an extremely bloody summer and to July being one of the deadliest months. 32 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan this month alone. Three Minnesotans have died in Afghanistan in since last weekend.

This week the Pentagon confirmed that the U.S. death toll in Iraq and Afghanistan has reached 5000. Over 700 of those deaths were in Afghanistan.

Meredith Aby, Anti-War Committee member, explained the purpose of the protest, “Obama has dramatically increased troops and is considering sending an additional 10,000 more. This war is too costly and bloody to both the Afghan and American people. We need to send Obama a clear message that we want the troops brought home now.”

Katrina Plotz, a spokesperson for the Anti-War Committee said, “The U.S. has no more right to invade Afghanistan than it does to attack Iraq. The Afghan people deserve to determine the future of their country themselves. The U.S. has no business spending billions to occupy another nation when so many people are struggling to meet their basic human needs at home.”

The protest was organized by the Anti-War Committee ( antiwarcommittee.org), which is a local grassroots peace organization.

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