10 Years and Counting (10YAC), an organization that zeroes in on the true costs of the war on terror will host a cultural program to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan.
Using artists via the internet, 10YAC is hoping to create a “virtual umbrella” in which people can connect nationwide to call for peace.
“Creativity is necessary for change, so artists are uniquely positioned to lead the way.” said Camille Gage, a Minneapolis-based artist and co-founder of 10YAC. “There’s no way to devise a peaceful future if we cannot first imagine it. We’ve got to tap into the creative impulse.”
The group is planning more than 250 events nationwide from New York City to Oregon. Susanne Slavick, an artist at Carnegie Mellon University and one of the organizers of the group, says the program gives artist an outlet to examine the costs and benefits to war.
“Artists can envision the impact of war across generations,” Slavick stated. “They examine what rains down in destruction and what rises from the ashes, what painfully lingers and what we long for instead.”
10YAC and many other believe that the war in Afghanistan isn’t getting enough media coverage now. Even as August became the deadliest month for the U.S.-led alliance there since fighting began, the war doesn’t seem to resonate on the national radar.
“The silence is especially striking among the Republican political establishment, on whose watch these wars were launched,” Susan Glasser, editor in chief of Foreign Policy magazine said in an essay carried by Reuters recently.
“And Democrats, if anything, are even more resolutely determined both to get out of Afghanistan and Iraq as quickly as possible–and to avoid talking about it before they do,” she continued.