Lansing resident Nancy Lombardi, back left, stands with Williamston resident Jack Smith, back right, stand along Grand River Avenue on Tuesday evening in remembrance of more than 1,000 U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan.
—Al Cafagna has been attending peace demonstrations since the 1960s.
Then, he protested the Vietnam War. Now, more than 40 years later, the retired MSU professor still is fighting for justice, he said Tuesday at a vigil marking the 1,000th U.S. troop death in Afghanistan.
“Unfortunately, we’ve found that almost all the issues throughout the years deal with questions about justice,” he said. “There is no way to justify these wars.”
Cafagna and about 20 others gathered at the intersection of Grand River Avenue and Abbot Road for the vigil organized by the Peace Education Center and the Greater Lansing Network Against War and Injustice.
The vigil recognizes a sorrowful milestone in the United States’ conflict in Afghanistan, said Ann Francis, a member of the Greater Lansing Network Against War and Injustice.
“Each of these lives, whether it is one or 50 or 1,000, is very, very sad,” she said.
“Why we do it at 1,000 is to make sure that the public is aware that we have lost that many lives and we act to recognize the loss of lives and the cost of this war.”
As of Tuesday, the number of U.S. casualties in Afghanistan had risen to 1,003, Francis said.
About one-third, or 316, of the 1,000 deaths took place in 2009, according to icasualities.org, a Web site that monitors troop fatalities.
These numbers do not include the growing number of Afghani civilian causalities and others, said Jack Smith, an associate professor of education.
“We are not paying attention to the number of Afghanis,” he said. “We are not the only party to this conflict.”
The exact number of Afghan casualties is unknown. Last year, civilian and child casualties reached an all-time high, according to a United Nations study.
Smith said the casualty toll might be even greater this year, and he will continue to protest.
“No one likes to predict another 1,000 dead soldiers and how many wounded families and how many civilians,” he said.
“As long as we don’t feel like we are on the path to a better policy, we’ll be here, and I hope we don’t have to come out for 2,000.”
Cafagna said the growing number of U.S. causalities in Afghanistan reveals there still is injustice in the world, but he’ll continue to publicly protest.
“Given the options available to us besides voting and making contributions and writing to your congressman, at least it’s something you can do,” he said.
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