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Will Congress get our "80-20 Vision"?

Our government is continuing to hide behind the skirts of Afghan women, using their plight to justify military actions in the region. Yet where is the leadership that will truly support the women of Afghanistan and peace? When only 5% of the $864 billion dollars spent on the War on Terror since 2001 has gone to development, how can we say we're making life better for the women whose countries are being destroyed?

General Petraeus himself has suggested that a counter-insurgency doctrine should be 80% development, 20% military, yet, as the Congressional Progressive Caucus notes, the supplemental funding bill does not come close to reflecting this ratio. Just Monday, leadership of both houses have escalated what was 91 billion to almost 100 billion. Now it is full of earmarks, including eight huge C-17 cargo jets sought by the Boeing Co., that Obama had on his list of eliminations last month. We can't turn our backs for a minute. We and the women of Afghanistan and Iraq are being robbed.

This is a total outrage. As negotiators work on reconciling the supplemental funding bill between the House and the Senate this week, please call your representatives at 1-800-517-5696 and tell them they have spent far too much money on violence, weapons and war; it is time to demand a 80-20 development/military funding ratio.

If you haven't already, please also sign our petition asking for real leadership for the women of Afghanistan here.

To learn more about what we can do to help the women of Afghanistan, be sure to listen to See Jane Do's interview with Sweeta Noori, director of Women for Women in Afghanistan, and see other interviews from our Afghan Women Speak Out interview project on PINKTank!

Thank you for standing in solidarity with our Afghan sisters and standing up against outrageous war funding.

Peace,
Allison, Audrey, Blaine, Dana, Desiree, Farida, Gael, Gayle, Janna, Janet, Jean, Jodie, Liz, Lori, Lydia, Medea, Nancy, Pam, Paris, and Rae

CODEPINK: Women For Peace
http://codepinkalert.org


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