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To mark ten years of war hundreds of Afghans protested today against the US/NATO occupation of their country. Reuters reports that Afghans marched through Kabul with signs demanding an end to the Western troops, and depicting the civilian casualties of war. Friday marks the 10th year anniversary of the US/NATO campaign in Afghanistan dubbed Operation Enduring Freedom. A decade after the start of the longest running war in US history a Pew Research Center poll found that half of post 9/11 US veterans believe the Afghanistan war was not worth the fight. Over 50% of veterans and the American public now believe an over- reliance on military force leads to more terrorism. The Pew Center also found that 45% of Americans feel that neither the Afghanistan nor the Iraq war has been worth the costs of fighting them, and only 25% said they closely followed news of the wars. An estimated 17,600- 37,200 Afghan civilians have died as a result of war since 2001. According to organizations keeping records of Afghan deaths, including the UN Assistance Mission Afghanistan, all official tallies are likely to be underestimates. The death toll for US troops continues to rise, with 2010 being the deadliest year on record, ending with 497 members of US forces killed, and 2011 a close second at 340 deaths with three months left in the year. Attacks by insurgent forces around the country, car bombs, and assassinations are rampant. Just yesterday Afghan Intelligence officials announced the capture of six men, including a university professor, charged with planning to assassinate Afghan President Hamid Karzai. In late September a suicide bomber killed Former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani at his home. On September 13th the Taliban attacked the US embassy in Kabul with rocket propelled grenades and heavy artillery. That was only one of the dozen Taliban attacks in Kabul alone this year. In the US a coalition of groups will mark the anniversary today with a demonstration on Freedom Plaza in Washington DC followed by a sustained occupation of the area. Coinciding with the Occupy DC group, the anti-war action is headed by a coalition calling itself the October 2011 Movement. Peace, healthcare, and military veteran activists will join with others in hopes of raising awareness of the toll of war.

GUEST: Ellen Barfield, Former National Vice President of and co-founder of the Baltimore chapter of Veterans for Peace and a full-time peace and justice activist. She served in the U.S. Army from 1977-1981. She is also a member of the national boards of Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), the War Resister’s League, and the School of the Americas Watch

On October 7th at 9 am there will be a gathering at La Placity Church, 535 N. Main Street in Los Angeles, followed by a march to the downtown Federal building at 9:45 am. At 10:30 there will be a rally and civil disobedience. Visit www.icujp.org for more information.

On October 7th at 7 pm there will be a live interview with an underground activist named Reena, a member of RAWA, hosted by Uprising’s Sonali Kolhatkar, at Creveling Lounge, CC Building, Pasadena City College. The event will be live webcast at www.afghanwomensmission.org and www.kpfk.org. There will also be a simultaneous screening of the live webcast for USC students and others at USC, Taper Hall Room 121, at 7 pm.