Afghanistan Awareness in New York City
Film Screening of Rethink Afghanistan & Talkback with Veterans of the war

Wednesday, October 7, 7:30PM - Quad Cinema NYC

Travis Bishop, a Sergeant in the US Army and IVAW member, sits in Bell County Jail in Texas. He was sentenced to a year in prison for refusing to deploy to Afghanistan. Travis was moved by his strong religious beliefs after his dedicated service to the US Military to apply for conscientious objector status. Amnesty International has since declared him a prisoner of conscience - a designation increasingly common among service members who question the US occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This past Wednesday, marks the eight year anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan. General McChrystal's report calls for 40,000 more troops, though it provides no guarantee this will quell the Taliban. Meanwhile, IVAW's position remains clear: a military solution will not bring the change Afghan people need nor will it result in greater security for the United States.

Veterans of the war in Afghanistan, Greg Papadatos and Chris Vongsawat, shared this view at Wednesday's screening of the film Rethink Afghanistan. Produced by Brave New Films, Rethink Afghanistan is a ground-breaking, full-length documentary that inspects the war from the perspective of the Afghan people, US Soldiers, American Public, US Contractors and policy makers. IVAW's Los Angeles Chapter has screened the film with great success. IVAW National has included it in a series of programs this October by chapters across the country known as Afghanistan Awareness Month.

Who are our veterans?

IVAW Member Greg Papadatos joined the Army at age 19 where he served as an Infantryman for 4.5 years before moving to the inactive reserve. In 1989, he graduated from Army Jump School to become a paratrooper, and was called back into active duty in 1991 for the First Gulf War. In 2003, after a 5-year break from service, Greg rejoined the National Guard and switched his specialty from infantry to medic. After sustaining injuries during service in Iraq he was directed to train the Afghan military's medics. He found that many Afghan medics could not read so teaching them to check blood pressure was a challenge. In addition, US commanders were complacent and uninspiring - "Don't expect much progress," he was told, which meant not much was made.

IVAW Member Chris Vongsawat began his career in 1998 as an active duty infrantryman with the 35th Infantry Division. In 2004, he was commissioned as an Ordinance Second Lieutenant in the New York National Guard. Chris was deployed to Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom VII in 2008, where he worked as a military advisor to the Afghan military. In Afghanistan, Vongsawat witnessed first hand the waste by US military and non-military contractors. Chris explains how this contributed to an exceptionally high unemployment rate and poor labor conditions. Without jobs, men are more likely to join the Taliban, where they earn a better living wage at $8-10 a day than they would working for the US Military.

Papadatos and Vongswat's shared different stories, but one unified message: the military occupation is not benefiting Afghan civilians or the American people. Meanwhile, Travis Bishop remains in prison for refusing to deploy for a war that violates his religious beliefs.

IVAW supports these members because deploying more troops who are ill equipped to solve problems that need civilian solutions is unjust. Sacrificing service members lives for a war that principally benefits US Contractors rather than the the Afghan people is immoral. Deescalation is necessary to improve the security, health and education of both Afghanistan and the United States - not more troops entering the ninth year of an occupation with no foreseeable end.

Check back soon for podcasts of Papadatos and Vongsawat's talkback. Visit rethinkafghanistan.com to watch segments of the entire documentary. Take action to support IVAW Member and prisoner of conscience Travis Bishop by contacting IVAW Activist Ally and Policy Intern at susankuruvilla@ivaw.org

In Solidarity,
Jose Vasquez