In commemoration of the Tenth Anniversary of the U.S. War in Aghanistan, the following article was contributed by Joan Wile, Founder of Grandmothers Against the War, a Founding Member of Granny Peace Brigade, and author of "Grandmothers Against the War: Getting Off Our Fannies and Standing Up for Peace."

As we prepare to commemorate our invasion of Afghanistan 10 years ago on Oct. 7, 2001, a few words are in order about how this attack and subsequent occupation have had a catastrophic impact on the Afghan people, on our young military forces, and on the 99 per cent of us here at home who are suffering financial devastation partly as a result of the trillions of dollars poured into the sinkhole of that beleaguered country.

I have devoted my 70's to opposing that conflict and the one in Iraq.  Now, at the age of 80, I am still struggling to bring our government to its senses and bring our troops home.  In 2003, I organized Grandmothers Against the War, a group which has been on the streets ever since doing all sorts of actions, including a weekly peace vigil in front of Rockefeller Plaza, still going strong with never a missed day no matter what the weather.  Among our many other actions, we traveled to Washington to lobby our Senators, and abroad to speak to peace groups.  And, Inasmuch as my life was spent as a singer-songwriter-musician, I tried to add a little spice to our protests by creating skits and songs for the grannies to perform. These were always met with great enthusiasm -- we even had one of our grannies do a stand-up comedy routine as Barbara Bush.

Along the way, we always scrambled to get political leaders to speak at our rallies, vigils and demonstrations.  This was an uphill battle, let me tell you.  But there was always one person we could ALWAYS count on to show up.  Looking back over the eight years since I organized Grandmothers Against the War, I can't recall anybody on the level of Charles Rangel or higher ever appearing at our rallies and protests other than the Congressman himself.  

Right now, we are all enthralled with the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations, which promise to evoke major changes in our lives, and hopefully bring economic justice to the masses of people left behind in the wake of Wall Street's criminal dominance of our government.  We peace grannies are firmly convinced that the most essential part of this transformation would be a cessation of our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  They accomplish nothing but death and destruction and drain our domestic budget to the point of starving working families and the poor. You are all familiar with the litany of deprivations caused by our financial crisis -- lack of adequate health care, crumbling schools with inadequate numbers of teachers, dwindling jobs, and on and on.  Let's move the money from war to home!

Oddly enough, a week or so before the Wall Street protests began, I wrote a poem suggesting that citizens take to the streets to address these wrongs.  Little did I envision that such would be the case within a few days.  I'd like to share it with you here.

WAKE UP, AMERICA! YOUR HOUSE IS ON FIRE!
WHAT ELSE DO WE NEED TO MAKE IT CLEAR
THAT DOOMSDAY IS GETTING PERILOUSLY NEAR
OUR SAFETY NET IS TORN TO SHREDS
TAX BREAKS ARE GIVEN TO CORPORATE HEADS
WHILE WE ON THE BOTTOM AND IN THE MIDDLE
LOSE MORE EACH DAY WHILE THE LEADERS FIDDLE

WE'RE MAKING WAR ALL OVER THE PLANET
THOUGH OUR CITIZENS DAILY URGE, "PLEASE BAN IT"
SOLDIERS AND CITIZENS ARE DYING FOR NAUGHT
SO BOMBS AND GUNS CAN BE PROFITABLY BOUGHT
VETS COMING HOME ARE UNEMPLOYED
BODIES AND MINDS TOO OFTEN DESTROYED

WHAT MORE WILL IT TAKE TO AWAKEN US ALL
TO SCARE US OUT OF OUR LISTLESS PALL
SO WE'LL TAKE TO THE STREETS AND TOSS THEM OUT
A THOROUGH, CONCLUSIVE AND ALL-AROUND ROUT
AMERICA, THIS IS WHAT IT WILL TAKE
OUR CHILDREN'S FUTURES ARE AT STAKE

WAKE UP, AMERICA, ORGANIZE
THE TIME HAS COME TO MOBILIZE
WE MUST HAVE MORE THAN MOANS AND GROANS
WE'VE GOT TO LEAVE OUR COMFORT ZONES
AND FINALLY TAKE ACTION, NOW, TODAY
LET'S HIT THE STREETS, WITHOUT DELAY! 

Note:  The Grandmothers Against the War vigil occurs every Wedesday from 4:30-5:30 p.m. on the west side of Fifth Ave. between 49th and 50th Sts. (across from Saks).  All are welcome to join whenever they can, and one does not have to be a grandmother to participate.  We have young people, middle-aged people, and male Veterans for Peace "On the Avenue" with us.