Since May 2010 Jacob George and some friends have been on a bicycle trip through the United States. Equipped with banjo and bass fiddle, he and others have been singing and performing anti-war stories while bringing a message of peace for Afghanistan. They\u2019ve traveled most often through areas of the U.S. South, where anti-war sentiment is probably as low as anywhere in the country. That in itself is impressive.<\/p>\n
But what makes this campaign, which George calls \u201ca ride till the end,\u201d even more striking is that George is a honorably discharged veteran of three tours in Afghanistan. He was a sergeant in the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, and as he said: \u201cI was there in 2001 right after the U.S. forces landed in October. Then we went back once more in 2002. And then again at the end of 2003 and the beginning of 2004. No tour was for more than six months.\u201d<\/p>\n
Workers World spoke with George on Sept. 9 near New York\u2019s City Hall. He had just participated in a news conference held by the Emergency Mobilization Against Racism, War and Anti-Muslim Bigotry to publicize its Sept. 11 demonstration near City Hall to answer right-wing attacks on Muslims, including Muslims\u2019 right to build an Islamic prayer center.
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\n\u201cIt got so that if I was driving and stopped at a station to buy gas, I\u2019d start feeling like I was encouraging a war for oil. I decided to ride bicycles everywhere. At my job, which was to enforce the parking laws on campus, I would ride my bicycle carrying the \u2018boot\u2019 to place on illegally parked cars.
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\nGeorge and his bicycling team, who have performed at the Bluestockings bookstore and other places while in New York City, will be leaving Sept. 13 for a 250-mile ride to Washington, D.C., going through Philadelphia; Wilmington, Del.; and Baltimore. Their plan is to get donations of 250 bicycles.<\/p>\n
As he said: \u201cAs a community of Afghan war veterans, we feel a peace offering is needed as we approach 10 years of war in Afghanistan. Upon collecting the bicycles, we\u2019ll be attempting to send some to Afghanistan and others will be used to get more veterans on bicycles. We\u2019ve asked Bikes Not Bombs to help us in this effort and we\u2019ll be pedaling together as reconciliation approaches.\u201d<\/p>\n
For more information, see operationawareness.org.
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