A silent noon-hour vigil at the state capital in Lansing will mark the tenth anniversary of the start of the war in Afghanistan. Its organizers say the U.S. has not learned the lessons of the war.
Peace activists have spent the past decade demanding the U.S. pursue a different foreign policy strategy. Ann Francis is one of the organizers of today’s silent march and vigil in Lansing. She says the plan to reduce the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan is not enough.
“We can say we’re taking the troops out. But until we start looking at different ways to address the problems of conflict…the conflict that we have and support regional efforts to end the problems…the wars are going to continue and we’re going to continue to lose lives," says Francis.
According to Icasualties.org, 48 Michiganders have died in Afghanistan since the beginning of the war.
