Protesters, Clergy, Community to Remember Victims of U.S. / NATO Wars

Press Advisory

21 May 2012

World Can’t Wait

Trinity Episcopal Church , 125 E. 26th St., Chicago

As the Obama administration expresses fury at Pakistani resistance to further NATO war operations and excludes Pakistan’s president from the NATO Summit, members of the wider community will gather to memorialize people killed by U.S. airstrikes and drone attacks in Pakistan as well as in the U.S. occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as U.S./NATO operations in Yemen, Libya, and elsewhere.  Recognizing what veterans on Sunday called "the burden of blood that has stained these medals", Trinity Church has opened its lawn to expressions of grief and remembrance by the entire community.

"While billion dollar deals to continue U.S. and NATO presence in  Afghanistan and Pakistan are discussed behind closed doors, we’re putting the stories and images of the individual people, and families, harmed by these military actions," said Debra Sweet. "NATO is expected to announce combat troop reductions in Afghanistan, while leaving unresolved — and hidden — the daily killings and injuries by drones, detention, night raids that will continue for decades by with the apparatus the US/NATO has put in place there."

Local clergy, members of the international community, and protesters who marched Sunday will gather to emphasize their commitment to ending the wars and occupations — in all their dimensions — and focusing on the humanity of those who are often seen as "collateral damage" in modern wars.

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