Minneapolis, MN – About 40 protesters held signs reading “No war for the holidays” and “Stop endless wars” to engage with holiday shoppers at the busy intersection of Hennepin and Lagoon Avenues in the Uptown neighborhood of Minneapolis, December 21.

A statement issued by organizers says in part, “Endless U.S. wars drag on around the world. From Afghanistan, to Iraq, to Syria, to Yemen, to Somalia, the endless wars continue. There is a danger of new U.S. wars, especially against Iran and north Korea.”

The statement points out, “Recently the Washington Post published The Afghanistan Papers, thousands of pages of government documents which showed that the Bush, Obama and Trump administrations misled the people of the U.S. about the war in Afghanistan. That war continues.”

“The Trump administration has sometimes given lip service to ending the endless wars, yet the wars go on. In Syria, the U.S. government said it would withdraw, but days later had relocated U.S. troops to seize the Syrian oil fields. These wars will only end when the people demand an end to the wars.”

Emma Fiala, a member of Women Against Military Madness, opened the protest, “As the U.S. military budget is increased to fund these endless wars, important social services are being threatened. Our tax dollars should be spent on health care, housing, education and other social programs. Not on war. The people are facing more cuts in social programs, like Food Stamps — cutting off tens of thousands from food.” She concluded, “We must continue to say no to more wars, bring all of the troops home, and fund human needs now!”

Other speakers included Kristin Dooley, the director of Women Against Military Madness and Mike Madden, a member of Veterans for Peace. The crowd sang anti-war songs to the tune of Christmas carols in between speakers.

Meredith Aby-Keirstead, a member of the MN Anti-War Committee, was the last speaker. She concluded with, “We need to insist that there be real change in U.S. foreign policy! We need to not settle for just better than Trump. We don’t want bombs dropped by a president who has a vocabulary above the fourth grade but who happens to be a woman or gay. We want the bombs to stop being dropped!”

The protest was initiated by Minnesota Peace Action Coalition and endorsed by the MN Anti-War Committee, Every Church A Peace Church, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Mayday Books, Minnesota War Tax Resistance, Party for Socialism and Liberation, St. Joan of Arc Peacemakers, Socialist Action, Twin Cities Peace Campaign, Veterans for Peace, Welfare Rights Committee, and Women Against Military Madness.

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