Lake Forest Park for Peace 17-year Anniversary on December 14, 2019

Photo by by Colleen Arima

Lake Forest Park for Peace members will celebrate their 17-year anniversary on Saturday, December 14, at the street corner of Bothell Way NE (SR 522) and Ballinger Way NE (SR 104) from 11am to noon. Members will also meet at the Lake Forest Park Town Center from noon to 2pm. All are welcome.

Lake Forest Park for Peace was formed on December 14, 2002 in opposition to the ongoing war in Afghanistan and the upcoming Iraq War. Members have publicly demonstrated for peace on over 880 consecutive Saturdays as well as demonstrating at hundreds of other events. 

Members held a candlelight vigil for peace on the evening of March 20, 2003 when a driver stopped to inform them that the U.S. had just started its bombing campaign for the invasion of Iraq.

John Makey, who has attended the Lake Forest Park vigil since it first began, stated, “We represent a living democracy—placing ourselves and our demands for a peaceful society into the public arena.”

In March 2011, Lake Forest Park for Peace members donated a Peace Pole to the City of Lake Forest Park which marks a permanent call for peace at the Bothell Way NE and Ballinger Way NE street corner.

Photo by Colleen Arima

On Monday, December 9, 2019, the Washington Post released the first of a six-part series, titled, The Afghanistan Papers A secret history of the war, based upon court-released federal records. The 2,000 pages of interviews revealed that “senior U.S. officials failed to tell the truth about the war in Afghanistan throughout the 18-year campaign, making rosy pronouncements they knew to be false and hiding unmistakable evidence the war had become unwinnable.”

Since 2001, more than 775,000 U.S. troops have deployed to Afghanistan, many repeatedly. Of those, 2,300 died there and 20,589 were wounded in action, according to Defense Department figures.

Political leaders now express shock and alarm with some in the U.S. Senate calling for an investigation. Meanwhile, Congress is preparing to pass a $738 billion National Defense Authorization Act, ensuring for more endless wars and establishing a sixth branch of the armed forces, U.S. Space Force, to further advance weapons in space. And as our President proposes sending 14,000 troops more troops to the Middle East.

Please join with us.