“-- The wars drone on, and the death toll rises, while the economy tanks –“

Lake Forest Park For Peace sponsors a March March for Peace

Contact: Bob Trutnau
206-443-2892 (work)
425-402-6925 (home)
bobbtrut@juno.com (e-mail)
http://www.lfpfp.org

March 12, 2009

In acknowledgement of the 6th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Lake Forest Park For Peace, comprised of over 150 activists from communities throughout King and Snohomish counties, will sponsor a March March For Peace along Ballinger Way NE on Saturday March 21, 2009. Commencing at 10 AM from 15th Ave NE by the Ballinger Village center, upwards of 50 regular and infrequent participants are expected to march over 2 miles ending at the corner of Ballinger and Bothell Ways NE in Lake Forest Park to publicly declare the continuing need for peace activism and involvement.

"It is certainly true that there are many positive differences in 2009 with Barack Obama as president", said member Bob Trutnau. "Yet for all the talk of withdrawal from Iraq, the plans as declared by the present administration call for only 12,000 troops to be withdrawn from Iraq this year, while up to 17,000 more troops are planned to be deployed in the Afghanistan quagmire."

Founded in December 2002, Lake Forest Park For Peace thrives on its members' resolve and commitment. "We continue because the occupations continue, and people continue to get killed, including 49 US service personnel in Obama’s first 49 days as President", said member Sigrid Salo, " and with over 200 billion dollars budgeted into 2010, President Obama plans on continuing operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and increasingly in Pakistan."

The focus of Lake Forest Park For Peace has always made specific U.S. military issues part of a larger framework of world peace. Now with the global recession morphing towards a depression, members see the connections between economic strife and war. "We believe that the biggest threats to world peace", said member Chuck Leone, "are worldwide public suffering and the use of war to deflect and diffuse anger from the corrupt economic elites who are to blame for the present predicament."

Lake Forest Park For Peace knows it is still relevant today and will be into the future. "The immense challenges of the 21st century will demand mutual respect and common ground amongst the world's peoples", said founding member Rodney Brunelle, "and we truly do need to choose between nonviolence and nonexistence. Our activism through Lake Forest Park For Peace is our vehicle to make that choice."