Yesterday was the 7th anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan and the start of the so-called 'War on terror'.

War in Afghanistan and then in Iraq was meant to cement US power and influence around the world.

This new century we were told was to be the American century and Bush's neo-conservative project was to 'promoteAmerican global leadership' through a policy of 'military strength and moral clarity'.

The peoples of Afghanistan and Iraq have paid a high price for this 'moral clarity'.

Last weekend one hundred delegates from the anti war and peace movements from 16 countries met in Germany to plan protests at NATO's 60th conference from the 2nd to the 5th April 2009.

The call for the protests is extremely timely. NATO has become the key vehicle for the US and its allies to pursue their wars.

The push for NATO expansion was the main cause of the conflict in Georgia.

NATO is taking the lead in the disastrous occupation of Afghanistan.

The war in Afghanistan was supposed to have been won without firing a shot . Today 120 British soldiers are dead, countless thousands of Afghan civilians have been killed and millions are refugees. Stop the War coalition's new pamphlet argues that the war is now unwinnable for NATO and it is time for them to withdraw.

Introduced by john Pilger, the pamphlet covers the war, womens rights, the opium boom and the tremendous cost of the war to the Afghan people and the British Exchequer. It is an invaluable resource to those who want to learn more about the invasion and its aftermath.

The cost of the Iraq war to Britain is estimated to be as much as £10 billion, and the US government spends $10 billion dollars a month on the conflict.

But the cost is substantially more when hidden costs are taken into account. Who pays for after care for injured soldiers? Pensions and injury payments?

Joseph Stiglitz, leading economist and former head of the World Bank, has estimated that the total cost of the war to the US will be $3 trillion and $6 trillion to the world.