EMERGENCY PROTESTS PLANNED TO OPPOSE AFGHANISTAN ESCALATION ON DECEMBER 2, DAY AFTER OBAMA ANNOUNCES

As President Obama is expected to announce another major US troop increase in Afghanistan on Tuesday night, the Princeton-based Coalition for Peace Action (CFPA) has made plans to protest that increase throughout the region on Wednesday, December 2, the day after it's announced.

A Princeton protest will take place from 4:30-5:30 PM at Palmer Square in the center of Princeton. All opposing the escalation are encouraged to bring protest signs to hold in the early part of the protest, and candles to hold as the event will close with a Candlelight Vigil at approximately 5:15 as darkness falls.

CFPA affiliates in South Jersey and Bryn Mawr, PA are also planning emergency protests on December 2. In South Jersey, the protest will be led by high school students and is scheduled at 7:00 PM at the Monument, located at Albany and Ventnor Avenues, in Atlantic City. In Bryn Mawr, there will be a Vigil from 5:00-6:00 PM at the corner of Bryn Mawr and Lancaster Avenues, by the Bryn Mawr library.

"President Obama is in grave danger of repeating the mistakes of Vietnam and committing more and more troops to fight in Afghanistan for a corrupt government with no end in sight.  As in Vietnam, public opinion is in front of the elected officials, as a significant majority of Americans now favor a military exit from Afghanistan. We must register our strong and immediate protest, so this escalation is reversed as quickly as possible.

The US estimates that there are just 16,000 Taliban fighters in Afghanistan. The US, NATO and Afghan soldiers and police forces number over 270,000, with air power and highly sophisticated weapons that the Taliban don't have. If they can't be defeated with that, it is highly unlikely that another US escalation will defeat them. President Obama must stand up to military advisors, as President Johnson didn't during Vietnam, refuse escalation, and instead order a humanitarian surge.

Instead of committing $100 billion of our tax dollars to an unwinnable quagmire in Afghanistan, which is about the same as what health care reform would cost, we should fund health care so 45 million Americans with no health insurance can get coverage. Or, $100 billion would fund approximately 400,000 college scholarships per year, which would do much more for our long-term security," said the Rev. Robert Moore, CFPA Executive Director.

For further information, call the Coalition for Peace Action at (609) 924-5022 or visit their web site www.peacecoalition.org.