As many of you know there will be an event marking the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan at Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC http://october2011.org. While MFSO has not endorsed the action as an organization, many members, staff, and board members are planning on participating. We do hope that the action achieves the goals the organizers have put forth and appreciate their efforts.
Please feel free to email oskar@mfso.org if you plan to be in DC on October 6th and also keep my cell phone number handy – 267-266-8745. While it is difficult to determine at this point how the day will begin and end, MFSO members will be gathering at the flagpoles at Freedom Plaza. Please wear your MFSO shirts and bring your signs and banners!
Recognizing that this action in DC does come with some risks, we are obligated to let you know that MFSO does not have the capacity to provide legal assistance should there be a need for it. Hopefully, none will be needed. Also, for those who have not trained or participated in any sort of nonviolent direct action, we encourage you to attend the trainings being offered at Freedom Plaza or seek training elsewhere. There is a listing of nonviolence training events scheduled prior to the action date and you can find out where and when they are in DC by visiting october2011.org
Finally, we are holding our War Voices Forum the following day on October 7th at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church in DC. You can learn more here – http://warvoices.org/?page_id=9 . All MFSO members and supporters are encouraged to attend this unique event, bringing together Afghan civilians, veterans, military families, and community and economic justice groups to commemorate the beginning of the Global War on Terror on October 7th.