Recap: A Week of Work to End the Afghanistan War

Things have been busy this week at Rethink Afghanistan and in the anti-Afghanistan-War movement generally, so I thought it might be helpful to post a recap of the last few days.

On Sunday, February 13, the television ad we created from your “Because It’s Time” wall postings began airing on CNN in Washington, D.C. To our surprise, we discovered that this was the first-ever anti-Afghanistan-War ad aired on TV. Go team! The ad will run through this coming Sunday, February 20, thanks to your generous donations.

We spent several days working with Members of Congress and online writers to organize a “blog blitz,” were we flooded a number of high-traffic websites today with anti-Afghanistan-War blog posts, including The Huffington Post. Here’s a list of posts:

U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee (CA-09)
A Responsible End to the War in Afghanistan

U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva (AZ-)
The Afghan Escalation Has Failed To Deliver

U.S. Rep. Michael Honda (CA-15)
One Year After Escalation, Afghanistan War Still Faltering

Matthew Hoh (Director, Afghanistan Study Group)
Memorials to Purposelessness

Steve Clemons (Director, American Strategy Program, New America Foundation)
It’s Time to Change Course in Afghanistan

Robert Greenwald (Director, Brave New Foundation)
Fed-Up Americans Run First Ever Anti-Afghanistan-War TV Ad

Derrick Crowe (Political Director, Brave New Foundation)
On Anniversary of Marjah Push, Escalation Strategy Still Failing

Digby (Blogger, Digby’s Hullabaloo)
“Happy” Anniversary

Steve Hynd (Editor, Newshoggers.com)
One Year On, Where’s That Government-In-A-Box?

(A note about the participants: Reps. Lee, Honda and Grijalva got us their blog posts during a very, very hectic week on Capitol Hill, while also working on several amendments that aimed to constrain military spending during the debate on the continuing resolution appropriations bill. Several of the other writers were also traveling or grappling with very busy schedules. We appreciate their participation very much, especially during a week like this.)

Our ad buy and blog blitz coincided with a couple of important dates. February 13 marked the one-year point for the escalated military campaign, which began with the assault on Marjah in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. And today, U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee reintroduced her bill that would force an orderly withdrawal of U.S. troops. This confluence of dates and events really helped us break through the noise and get Afghanistan back on the public radar after a long lull in coverage.

Keep an eye on this blog for next steps to build on this momentum. Thanks for your support, as always.