Saturday & Wednesday: ABQ Peace Events Mark 5th Anniversary of Iraq Invasion

Just a sample of recent carnage.

As of Thursday, March 13, 2008, at least 3,987 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an AP count. The figure includes eight military civilians. At least 3,238 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers. Almost 30,000 members of the U.S. military have been seriously wounded during combat, with untold thousands more severely disabled in "non-combat" actions in Iraq. And who knows how many tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians have paid with their lives or limbs?

Today, hundreds of veterans and active-duty soldiers of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are gathering for the Winter Soldier hearings. The soldiers plan to give eyewitness accounts of the occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Organized by Iraq Veterans Against the War, the gathering is modeled after the 1971 Winter Solider hearings organized by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War. You can watch live for the next three days and view clips at site, and Information Clearinghouse has live audio and video.

According to Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz , the war is now costing us $12.5 BILLION a month, up from $4.4 billion a month in 2003. He says a conservative estimate of the total cost of the debacle in Iraq is $3 TRILLION when related costs are added in. Clearly, the huge deficits and other financial costs caused by the invasion and occupation are major factors in the ongoing crash of our economy. And the so-called surge? Even Gen. Petraeus admits it isn't working in terms of the goals it was designed to further.

Take a Stand at These Events:

On Saturday, there's a Peace rally and march marking the 5th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, organized by Stop the War Machine and other local groups:

Saturday, March 15, 2008 at 11:00 AM
Meet at the UNM Bookstore at 11:00 A.M
2301 Central NE, Albuquerque, NM 87131
Click for FLYER

Also, on Wednesday, March 19, 2008, there's a solemn peace vigil organized by MoveOn:

Main MoveOn Vigil
Where: Outside of UNM bookstore (in Albuquerque)
When: Wednesday, Mar. 19, 2008, at 7:00 PM—

There are a few nearby satellite events that same day organized via MoveOn:

New Priorities Vigil
Rio Grande and Candelaria area, Albuquerque at 7:30 PM—

New Priorities Vigil
Highway 528 and Southern Blvd, Rio Rancho at 7:00 PM—

New Priorities Vigil
Peralta NM/Mainstreet Memorial Park, Peralta at 5:30 PM—