Don't support the troops. Inform them.
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As journalist Joshua Frank explains, the people of Afghanistan aren't discerning much difference between shock and awe and hope and change. Writes Frank:
"Shipping off 30,000 more troops to the land of the Taliban may be infuriating to devoted antiwar activists, but the toll the Afghanistan war is having on the environment should also force nature lovers into the streets in protest."
The environmental costs of war are no secret but the stakes continue to rise with the U.S. using weapons such as depleted uranium. "Depleted uranium burns on contact," explains physician and activist, Helen Caldicott, "creating tiny aerosolized particles less than five microns in diameter, small enough to be inhaled." These minute particles can travel "long distances when airborne," she explains.
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"As bombs fall, civilians are not the only ones put at risk," adds Frank, "and the lasting environmental impacts of the war may not be known for years, perhaps decades, to come." For example, he says, "birds are killed and sent off their migratory course." Home to wildlife such as gazelles, cheetahs, hyenas, Turanian tigers, and snow, Afghanistan now has 33 species on its endangered list. However, the National Environmental Protection Agency expects that list to grow to over 80 species by the end of the year.
Reminder: War is never and will never be green. That's why linking the pro-environment and anti-war movements is so crucial.
Anti-War, Pro-Environment Reading List
The world's largest polluter may be the U.S. Department of Defense but this is made possible by volunteer soldiers. Simply put, the more we know, the less likely we'd be to enlist. So, instead of pledging to "support" the troops, why not inform them instead?
- A People's History of the United States, by Howard Zinn
- Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II, by William Blum
- The Seven Deadly Spins: Exposing the Lies Behind War Propaganda, by Mickey Z. (yeah, me)
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