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The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will mark its 60th anniversary on April 4 and 5, 2009. At the same time, demonstrations will take place all over the world calling for an end to NATO's war in Afghanistan. The Canadian Peace Alliance and the Collectif Échec à la guerre are calling for pan-Canadian demonstrations on April 4 to demand an end to the NATO-led occupation that has already killed thousands of Afghan civilians and threatens to bring war to the entire region.
After more than seven years of occupation, there is still no end in sight to the killing in Afghanistan. Following the advice of US General David Petraeus, the new Obama administration has agreed to an Iraq-style "surge" in Afghanistan. The plan is to send an additional 30,000 US troops. The US also wants to buy the support of Afghan militias by arming and paying them to fight on the side of the NATO occupation forces.
In addition, the war in Afghanistan has already expanded into Pakistan, with an increase in US-led strikes in the border areas. The spread of war threatens to create massive social and political instability in a nuclear-armed nation.
Even more worrying, NATO maintains its policy of pre-emptive first-strike using nuclear weapons, a policy that encourages nuclear proliferation, and heightens the prospect of nuclear war.
Real security and prosperity will only be possible in Afghanistan when Western governments end their support for NATO's war. NATO members must be accountable to their own populations, and not to NATO generals.
Join us on April 4 to demand the withdrawal of Canadian troops from Afghanistan, and an end to NATO's war.
