President Obama is heading to Portugal for a NATO summit in Lisbon beginning on Friday. The Obama administration hopes to drum up support for its military strategy in Afghanistan and its new plan to delay a non-binding withdrawal deadline to at least 2014. Ahead of the summit, the city of Lisbon is undergoing the largest-ever security crackdown in Portugal’s history. Peace activists plan to hold several rallies culminating in an antiwar march on Saturday. Protest organizer Pedro Lima criticized Portugal’s involvement in the Afghanistan occupation.

Pedro Lima: “We wanted to show the people of Lisbon that Portugal is actually in a war, that we were not even invaded by that country — that is, Afghanistan — and that we are sponsoring that war. Some money is taken out from social [projects] and education to be invested in war armaments.”