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- Media Alert - 23 February 2010 - |
Media Alert
23 February 2010
From: Nevada Desert Experience
Contact: Jim Haber, Coordinator
jim[at]NevadaDesertExperience.org
702-646-4814 office
415-828-2506 cell
Vigils Decry Uncounted Afghan Dead as US Death Toll there reaches 1000
On February 22 it was reported that the death toll for United States
military personnel in Afghanistan since the October, 2001 invasion has
reached 1000. There are additional dead among the coalition forces and
many thousands of uncounted dead Afghans who also deserve remembrance.
This afternoon, February 23, from 3:30 to 5:00 outside Creech Air Force
Base, and Thursday morning, February 25 from 8:30 to 9:30 outside the
Federal Courthouse on Las Vegas Blvd. in Las Vegas, concerned citizens
will vigil decrying the "Human Cost of War" due to the ongoing
occupation of Afghanistan and the increased military actions led by the
United States.
Signs at Creech Air Force Base--which oversees the official (non-CIA)
military squadrons of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), in particular the
armed Reapers and Predators implicated in hundreds of civilian
deaths--will address the problems of the increasingly remote way that
the war and occupation are being fought. "1000 DEAD U.S. IN AFGHANISTAN:
NO END IN SIGHT WITH U.A.V. ATTACKS" reads one prominent banner.
Another, with an image of a MQ-9 Reaper on it reads, "DRONE ATTACKS KILL
PEOPLE AND PEACE."
On Thursday, the weekly peace vigil at the Las Vegas courthouse will be
enhanced in solemn commemoration of this sad milestone by the display of
a pair of boots for each soldier from Nevada who has been killed in
Afghanistan. The boots are symbolic and each pair will have a tag with
the name of on of the soldiers, their age and hometown. The boots
display is part of the larger Eyes Wide Open exhibit started by the
American Friends Service Committee which began as an Iraq memorial, but
also includes casualties in Afghanistan.
Media Announcements about the 1000th U.S. death in Afghanistan include:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/22/world/asia/22civilian.html?ref=asia
iCasualties.orghttp://www.icasualties.org/OEF/Fatalities.aspx
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/2/23/headlines#1
About Eyes Wide Open, the Boots exhibit: http://www.afsc.org/eyes/
About Nevada Desert Experience:
http://nevadadesertexperience.org/
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