with the APVs in Afghanistan
I also hope to accompany them to the U.S. for the Caravan for Peace tour, an opportunity to exchange and nurture their non-violent approach to the war against drugs and terrorism. This would greatly encourage them in the face of "condemnation' from fellow Afghans. They have a potentially powerful role to build restorative justice in their own communities and country.
So, while I appreciate the challenges of daily decision making at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, I'm hoping that when Ali and Abdulhai go for their visa interviews on the 5th of August, they will be able to sense the same gratitude I recently felt towards the officials when I had re-applied for a visa to the United States after having been denied on two previous occasions.
1976 Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire has already written to the U.S. Embassy in Kabul with this request : "I urge the consular officials who will review the applications of Ali and Abdulhai to help manifest the potential already developed through Ali's and Abdulhai's peacemaking efforts by making it possible for them to communicate with audiences, media, youth groups and good friends, in the United States, for this brief and unrepeatable Peace Caravan in September 2012. The next step of the journey will be back in Kabul " I look forward to visiting the projects they have started which depend on their energies and skills."
Peace needs a chance.
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