By Stephanie Rugoff and Debra Sweet

In the blizzard of outrageous new actions and threats from the current commander in chief, many people heard about “The Afghanistan Papers,” the Washington Post series last week on the U.S. war on Afghanistan.  After three years of lawsuits, the Post obtained partial transcripts of interviews with 400 people involved in pursuing the war through the Bush, Obama and Trump administrations.

The interviews paint a picture of an invasion and occupation with the aim of projecting U.S. power, regardless of consequences for the Afghan people, who had been subjected to invasion and civil war for much of their history before the U.S. bombed its way in.  

“We were devoid of a fundamental understanding of Afghanistan — we didn’t know what we were doing,” Douglas Lute, a three-star Army general who served as the White House’s Afghan war czar during the Bush and Obama administrations, told government interviewers in 2015. He added: “What are we trying to do here? We didn’t have the foggiest notion of what we were undertaking.”

The Post focuses on the 2800+ deaths of U.S. military as being wasted. Those of us who think of humanity look as well at the hundreds of thousands of Afghan people killed, wounded and driven into internal or external exile with their society in shambles – totally outrageous.

See the whole Washington Post article here.

There is a fight to tell the truth about what the U.S. empire does.  This is one reason we ask you to donate to support We Are Not Your Soldiers for its visits to classrooms.  Young people need to know what is being carried out in their names in order to be able to stand up in opposition to  these policies as well as understand what it means to sign up for the miliary with the risk of losing their own humanity.

Will you donate today to help get anti-war veterans into more schools?

A generous donor will match $1000 in donations to We Are Not Your Soldiers.

“We Are Not Your Soldiers is the most effective educational program in the United States for teaching students about the realities of military service, combat and the drive for empire.  Using seasoned vets from past and present wars who recount their grueling experiences during training and combat, the program offers young men and women a completely unique view of U.S. overseas exploits and military destruction. The program can’t rely on foundations so it needs your generous donations.”  

We Are Not Your Soldiers:

On Tour with We Are Not Your Soldiers featuring veteran Miles Megaciph.

A teacher from one of the schools wrote: “Just wanted to thank you again for spending a truly engaging, thought-provoking day with us. The work you do is incredibly vital for young people like my students, all of whom were enthusiastic, moved and grateful in their responses when I asked them for their thoughts on your visit in class the next day.  I’m constantly trying to raise consciousness (and consciences…), but it is often a tough uphill trek, so I’m happy to have your help in the mission. I would love to have you back next year to meet a new batch of students! In the meantime, please keep doing the work you’re doing — I know how exhausting it is but I promise you it is worth it!”

We just received this message from a pair of co-teachers: “We cannot thank you enough for spending your time, energy and efforts with us and our students. Your dedication and hard work are changing and shaping minds, young and old, every day.” 

Your donations allow us to give veterans small stipends to take time off from work, study or for childcare. We supply them with travel funds and purchase materials for students.