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Our Spring Break Will End the War!
I was sitting in a small café this summer in the tiny corn-town of Ashland, Nebraska. I had walked there from San Francisco on a student-organized March for Peace that was D.C.-bound. A native of New York, nothing, naturally, was familiar to me about this Nebraska town, nestled in between seemingly never-ending rows of corn. But one thing struck me as familiar when I first walked into the café.
It was the name Dustin Workman, and the face of a 19-year-old soldier boy in a photograph propped up on the entrance table - the same boy I knew I had seen ten miles before, in Greenwood, NE, on a construction paper sign along the road that said "Our town lost a hero."
I soon learned that the owner of the café, nicknamed Cheri O, was close family friends with the Workman family, and Dustin's first job, when he was younger, had been in this very café. Dustin had been killed in Iraq just a few days before our March for Peace passed through. Cheri O tried to just talk to us about our march and thank us for marching for peace, but she couldn't hold back tears. I felt her hug against my own 19-year-old body as she wept and said, "He was so young." I remember, when Cheri O went back into the kitchen, just staring across the table at my college friend who was home in Lincoln for the summer and happened to be marching with us that day. "That's how old we are," was all she could say.
I had already walked over 1,500 miles for peace at that point, but it wasn't until then that it really hit me.
These are our friends. These are our peers. Where are all the young people standing up in defense of our fellow young people who are being sent off to die? And what about the Iraqi people, young and old, who are being killed day after day? How can we sit back and let it happen?
We can't.
That is why young people nationwide are now coming together in a freshly-launched, student-driven effort: to bring students to Washington D.C. during our spring break to protest the war in Iraq full-time.
This March marks 5 years since the U.S. invaded Iraq for reasons we were too young to understand at the time; as we grew older we learned it was for oil, wealth, and power and not for peace, freedom, and democracy as we were told and most naively believed. Now many young people in America are speaking out daily and pledging to travel to D.C. for our spring break to tell Congress, Bush and Cheney that our spring break will end their war. It may not be as warm as Daytona Beach, but Bush wants us to go there, drink, party, and forget about his war. We're not going to go where he wants us to go. We're going to go to him instead.
Months after the March for Peace, sitting behind my computer screen at home, I found Dustin Workman from Greenwood, Nebraska. He was an Army Specialist, 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, one of five soldiers killed when their unit was attacked by insurgents using roadside bombs in Baghdad, Iraq on June 28, 2007, I learned.
But on the road in Nebraska, from Greenwood to Ashland, he was just little Dustin.
Let's save the rest of our young people from senseless slaughter.
It is time for the young people of America - and all Americans - to stand up and form a potent resistance. We hope that all who oppose the war - whether or not you have yet taken action to show it - will come join us in Washington D.C. this March, young and old alike, to once and for all bring an end to this immoral war and demand justice through impeachment of those who have perpetrated it.
Ashley Casale, initiator of the 2007 March for Peace, is an undergraduate student at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn.
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26 Comments so far
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Going all the way to DC just to protest an ILLEGAL and AMORAL war isn't going to change a thing. And doing it on a "Spring Break" holiday and then forgetting the next day is even DUMBER. First of all, the progressives and liberals need to get their SHIT together and organize, unite, plan and think long term instead of merely reacting after the DAMAGE is done, build real and strong think tanks and infrastructure, etc ... for all the smartness and/or education they got. You have to start local and be prepared to convince others to join your cause for change for the better. Then you'll start getting more representatives who'll actually represent you and not the special interests who are treasonous to begin with. There's no reason to expect this coming protest in Washington to work when none have worked for decades.
Hello young Americans! Welcome to the anti-war effort. We've missed you for the past six years and value your long-awaited support.
Hello young Americans! -- Please consider that your trip to DC this Spring, might be a valuable investment in even having the opportunity for a Spring break next year in Cancun, because of the new airline DHS restrictions on travel out of the USA?
The liberty you save, may be your own
Namaste … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … Mahatma Gandhi … … … … … … … … … …
« We must be the change we wish to see in the world »
« There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed »
Let it be a choice.
Those for the war, go.
Those against, stay.
Those who think this is a just war, go.
Those who dont, stay.
Those who think that the world must be Christian/jewish or Muslim, GO.
Let the meek inherit the earth.
Get on the right track. Tell your government to do the right thing:
1. Publicly admit its crime of violating the UN Charter, which prohibits aggression against sovereign states. (Tip: forget about 'winning')
2. Ask the UN, without any US participation, to assemble a peacekeeping force to replace US troops within Iraq to assist toward a political solution to the problems caused by the invasion, and to be fully funded by the US.
3. Ask the UN, again without US participation, to assess war reparations against the US for the illegal invasion of Iraq. (Remember: forget about 'winning')
4. Make a commitment to acquiesce to an international task force charged with eliminating all nuclear weapons in the world, and conducting regular inspections to ensure ongoing compliance from all nations.
Children should always admit their mistakes and make amends. So should other people.
ZERO POINT FIELD et al.<.i>
¿ Where the f_ _ _ would all of those pathetic leeches go,
once they climbed off of our backs?
MESSAGE TO THE _ B E A S T _
Please check your definition of SYMBIOSIS,
as parasites do not fair well,
without any hosts to prey upon.
There must be a balance between the
suckers and suckees
otherwise both risk their doom
MS CASALE: Bravo! When I marched against the Vietnam War as a teenager and shared the communal fervor of protest with thousands on the White House lawn (Nixon was prez), it was a seminal moment, a time that I will always remember and cherish. Even if the actions we take in a given moment do that result in any immediate sense of change, that doesn't mean the activity held no bearing. Nature teaches us that a seed embraced may spend a long, silent cycle under the ground and bear no signs of growth until it emerges as its own rising entity. NO action taken in the spirit of love, life or truth is lost! Enjoy your protest-vacation. It's a far greater thing than getting drunk at some beach bar!
Oops: should read "do not result in any.."
Keep up the good work Ashley. I'm too old to walk 1500 miles,but I do stand for peace the first Thurdsay of each month. I also write letters and make phone calls to congress. I carry the name of my son-in-law in my heart. So far he hasn't been physically wounded by this obscene war, but who knows what tomorrow will bring. Peace.
who are being sent off to die?
Question :was Ehren Watada sent off to die É
Answer : Yes
Question : Did he go É
Answer : No , but he probably went to jail like Martin Luther King , Nelson Mandela , Rosa Parks , Mohamed Ali...You have to admit that he joined a long of some pretty high-profile protesters.
Your can protest all you want ; you can walk to the moon and back and it is commendable but when the Dustins of this occupation start defying their deployment orders like Ehren Watada did , then and only then will they will stop dying . The choice is theirs ; not the war-mongers , not the commanders , not the protesters , not their judges or prosecutors .
Here is a very un-American thing to do , Ashley: Instead of walking another 2400 Kms , tell Dustinès comrades-in-arms to desert.
WELCOME AGAIN ALL YOUNG AMERICANS, AGAIN AND AGAIN!
WE DELIGHT IN YOUR AWAKENING AND COMMITTING TO THE CHALLENGES BEFORE US.
We in the Louisville Peace Action Community HAVE BEEN working SINCE BEFORE this illegal Iraq war to bring accountability to this outrageous administration. We have helped unseat a three term Bush supporting conservative Republican Congress woman with an outstanding young progressive who is already making a difference in Congress by the name of John Yarmuth.
It is not enough. We in Kentucky are now setting our sights to 'Ditch Mitch" [ McConnell ] - the Republican minority leader in the senate who has fostered 62 filibusters this year, - more than one every week, stopping the electoral mandates from November 2006. He has millions of dollars but we have the high ground and as you see, we have done it before. Watch us do it again with your help!
YOU are our future and our hope. Help us restore ethics in Congress, the White House and good will around the world instead of weapons, war and every reason to hate America. We can do it and it will take us doing it together.
Thanks for jumping on board! Find your place locally and jump in with all four!
Carry the message.
lwhunt330,
Welcome? You've missed us? Thanks for the welcome, but we've been here all along. I was much more active in antiwar groups and activities before I graduated from college in 2005. In fact, the rest of society hasn't really caught up with campus organizing. I've hardly had any face to face time with other activists since graduating and then mostly for a few rallies I've heard about last minute. We are mostly isolated and online rather than out there doing things in the community, from what I can tell. I'm glad to see college students planning something big. My advice: be prepared to make your own media on it because it might be ignored by the media like many large previous Washington marches such as the one I attended as a college sophomore back in 2003.
Thank you Ms. Casale. My good friend's son just returned injured from Iraq. And a close friend of my best friend was killed there last year.
If there is a march this spring I will come along.
War protest demonstrations are good. Motivating every possible person of earliest voting age to actually vote out the party that started the war is better. When wall-to-wall Democrats occupy Congress and The White House, this adventure will start ramping down. When it starts to ramp down, we're looking at a multi-year phased withdrawal and probably smaller residual forces there permanently (like Korea.)
If Republicans take power, you're looking at ramp UP, probably to include Iran, maybe some action in even Pakistan to "protect our interests".
You want slow ramp down? Or ramp up?
Ronald White, Luckily, Erin Watada has not gone to jail-- the army appears to be afraid of him and his supporters so are not pushing the trial any longer. I have watched this case closely and totally support 1Lt Watada. Lest we forget, he and another Japanese/ Hawaian/American Soldier/Officer are nearly the only ones who have stood up to the gang of 4F, draft dodging bunch of pukes in the Shrub administration. The other Officer I refer to is General Earl Shinseki, a true hero of the hopeless war he and I fought in so many years ago.
Students cannot protest much or they will lose all their status as a student and be thrown out of their schools and possibly into jail under the present regime.
Ashley Casale___From here in Nebraska, the state you walked through in your effort to help bring about peace, THANK YOU!! Also, good wishes for your spring break idea in DC. There are plenty of people pushing war, and it is certainly great to have young folks like yourself trying to make a difference and stop this disaster our country was tricked into by our own administration. Whatever the result, it is worth a try and time well spent.
Godspeed, Ashley. You have got it right, and you can do it.
A house is built one brick at a time. Bravo to all that stand in what ever way they can to resist the monster.
Operation Mockingbird will ensure that nobody ever learns of the Spring Break march on Washington.
OK Listen Up people! Its been 5 years and its time to actually DO something a tad uncomfortable. ALL INTERESTED PARTIES MUST QUICKLY CONSENSE ON THE DATE AND UTILIZE SIMULTANEOUS PUBLICIZATION. Door to door, internet, phone, teach-ins, newspaper, pamphlets, etc. Funding is available through the old line 60's people's networks, through the grapevine, use your brains!! Students must now realize that concerted action is possible, without any single group being in charge......nevertheless, students who actually care about the situation and are willing to get a start on a real education doing something eminently valuable, can get to work and manage to BRING WASHINGTON TO A STANDSTILL for a few days! The ultimate spring break gettaway....
Each campus will need some organizing. This would be the most useful thing anyone could ever do. MORE important than getting that gradepoint.... WAIT NO LONGER BECAUSE YOU ARE THE LEADERS WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR. Go out and try to save the collective soul of this poor lost country while there's still something to save. REMEMBER: NO FRICKIN VIOLENCE OR HATE MONGERING. GOTTA USE THE TRIED AND TRUE: REAL COMPASSION AND TOLERANCE FOR ALL. PEACE LOVE AND GOOD LUCK.
Yo...
When you all get to the freakin' Washington Mall you gotta go totally Woodstock on these freakin' capitalist plunderers and turn the whole place into a total communal self sustaining LOVEFEST!! Singing, dancing, running around nakid in the ponds... organize with local churches and nonprofit organizations to bring in food and water and provide toilets... raise a total 'in your face ruckus'l and don't leave till Bush and Cheney bring the boys home or perform harikari on the White House lawn!!
ps... you might think about organizing a few communes along the way too cuz that's the only way this planet is going to survive the coming 'Hell on Earth' our forebearers have initiated for us!
I feel very uneasy when I read articles such as this one, because it gives the impression that the only important lives are young American ones. There are lots of tears and anguish for the young soldiers, but as Ronald White has pointed out - they had a choice, they didn't have to go, they didn't have to join the army in the first place.
Would these people have been happier, if the US/UK had simply carpet bombed or nuked Iraq, and suffered no casualties of their own? Think about the hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis who have died - they did not ask for any of this, we simply decided to slaughter them, for power and for greed.
If you don't want to see dead soldiers, then don't go to war, because for every person you "free" or "liberate", there will be another who has lost a relative or friend, and will be ready to hate or kill you.
Sorry if that seems harsh or uncaring, but that is how I see the reality of the current conflict.
I am glad to read only 1 comment saying ("nothing you do will matter")... don't let those people get you down! My answer to them is 'what's the alternative, doing nothing?" then they say "i accept defeat, and now i must only concentrate on myself, to ensure that I live as well as I can while the world burns" (or something to that effect) and I say back "you've chosen to 'die', so be it... I choose to 'live'" [please forgive my obcene paraphrasing]
March on beautiful people!!
Thanks to all for your supportive comments, especially those which echo the truth I have tried to make ring, that our protest is still meaningful and necessary whether or not it actually changes anything! We hope it will, but regardless, it's our moral duty.
I disagree that it's only the soldiers who can stop the war by refusing to fight. That is powerful and I hope they all do it, but resting it all on their shoulders is denying our responsibility. Ronald White, We are part of the system that sends soldiers to war! If you don't like spring break protesting in D.C., it seems the least we can do is counter-recruit on a local level...
Students will do the best we can. We know we're privileged to be in school and lucky enough to have a spring break, but that seems to me like a reason to USE it, not to say forget it and go to the beach instead... and hemp4victory, Who said we're going to forget about it the next day? The students involved in organizing this trip protest every single day of our lives.
This is not just about young people -- young and old must unite -- Check out http://www.resistinmarch.org/ for an updated list of planned actions for March in D.C. and participating organizations.
Kernel, Nebraska is awesome! Loved the Nebraskans for Peace :)
Peace,
ashley