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Fairbanks Protesters Call for Peace on Anniversary of Iraq Invasion
FAIRBANKS - Today marks the sixth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
Members of the Alaska Peace Center and the Fairbanks Coalition for Peace erect a banner reading "end the occupation" Wednesday, March 18, 2009, in Veterans Memorial Park to protest the war. Thursday marks the sixth year of the war in Iraq. ( Photo by Sam Harrel) And as they have done periodically since even before the war began, the Alaska Peace Center and the Fairbanks Coalition for Peace and Justice met in Veterans Memorial Park to protest the war.
About a dozen people braved single digit temperatures to erect a banner that read simply, "END THE OCCUPATION."
"One of the things we've said since the very beginning is that this was an illegal attack," one of the protesters, David Koester, said. "It was a hostile action, and it was fiscally irresponsible as we now see."
As in many cities across the country, the peace movement in Fairbanks began about 2002 when the Bush administration began pushing for a regime change in Iraq. The peace movement in Fairbanks brought together several hundred people at various rallies throughout the years, though only a handful showed up at the park Wednesday evening.
Nearly everyone in attendance remembered those early protests and how many people who drove past would display a more-than-unfriendly one-fingered gesture. Traffic was light after the group put up its banner and waved peace flags, and those who drove by did not seem to pay them much attention.
"I understand why we need to keep troops there to stave off disaster, but ultimately, the Iraqi people will need to solve their own problems," said Don Ross, one of several Vietnam veterans who attended Wednesday's rally.
Ross enlisted in the Air Force voluntarily during the Vietnam War but said he grew disenchanted with war after witnessing it first hand.
"From a moral and spiritual standpoint, I understood after Vietnam that violence is self-perpetuating and nothing good can come from it," he said.
There has been some good news for peace activists recently. On Wednesday, the Department of Defense announced an end to its stop loss policy that required enlisted troops to serve longer than they had signed on for.
Those at the rally said they were hopeful President Barack Obama would do more to end the war than his predecessor, President George W. Bush. Obama has suggested that all combat brigades will be out of Iraq by August 2010.
"There's a lot of inertia for Obama to keep this going according to plan," Koester said. "It's really important for people concerned about Iraq to let the administration know how they feel."
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11 Comments so far
Show AllDon Ross says he "understands why we need to keep troops there to stave off disaster." The US/NATO forces BROUGHT disaster to Iraq and they should get the hell out now. If some occupying force came to the US and said "hey we're here to keep you safe and to help you build democracy" you can bet that every US citizen who owns a weapon would brandish such and tell the occupying force to get the hell out and leave affairs in our own hands.
It's the "stave off disaster" part that gets to me. Somehow, for some reason, I don't trust our leaders' assurances that Iraq is stabilizing or stable at all. Too many displaced, too many killed, too many new lines between Sunnis and Shiites ("cleansed neighborhoods"), too little functional infrastructure, and absolutely no expectation that Iraqi troops will "stand up" to it all when we leave. The invasion of Iraq was, is, and will be, pardon the vulgarity, a goat-fuck, as will be the withdrawal. I don't wish it on them or us, but that's what I expect. If I'm wrong, and we smoothly remove a couple hundred troops by 2010, I'll be delighted.
Yes. Exactly! What "disaster" are we going to stave off? The disaster that the US created when it invaded?
Isn't that the My Lai defense? We needed to destroy the village to save it?
The US can no more win guerilla wars in Iraq & Afghanistan today, than it could win in Vietnam in the 60s.
Way past time to cut our losses and let the people of those countries sort out their own problems.
In this respect Obama is looking more like LBJ than JFK, MLK, FDR or Lincoln.
I'd love to hear from the betrayed, fooled, ridiculed, idiotic, moronic Obama supporters on this anniversary. Change we can believe in indeed.
Are you satisfied now? How do you feel about being made a sucker of? As he continues Bush's policies, Obama's going full force ahead with the multi-trillion-dollar handouts to the banks and the prosecution of the illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The neocons have won. You blind fools have lost.
Just yesterday Obusha defended his policy of bailing out Wall Street financial interests, the same people directly responsible for the mess we're in. Millions of you foolish voters face the prospect of unemployment, foreclosure, poverty and homelessness. Enjoy. No bailout for you, and no million-dollar bonuses, which were fully consented by the Obusha administration and Congress, with a 10% cut for them of course.
"I understand why we need to keep troops there to stave off disaster, but ultimately, the Iraqi people will need to solve their own problems," said Don Ross, one of several Vietnam veterans who attended Wednesday's rally.
- yes, Don, because our abrupt departure from Vietnam did the Vietnamese people a world of good.
I'm all for leaving Iraq, even moreso for committing more personnel and an effective strategy against the Taliban and enemy personnel throughout Afghanistan and Pakistan...but a rapid withdrawal from Iraq, one that is done without ensuring a modicum of stability in the region, ensures only that we commit American blood and treasure to the area within 5 years.
Thank you APC and FCP for the good constructive push.
Well done Alaska !!!!
Today March 19th.2009 Baghdad still does not have drinking water ---
America brought a Holocaust over 20 YEARS to Iraq ,Depleted Uranium ,Cluster Bombs , over 3 Million Iraqi dead ,4 Million displaced people and more.
The USA was tricked into this debacle by Jewish American neocons and Tel Aviv with lies repeated by US - - AIPAC -- Politicians and the Jewish media.
It has been called Rupert's War after Rupert Murdoch,as his Media Empire Blitz in the US ,UK and Australia to sell the war to the sheeple because of the WMD threat etc etc !!!!!!!!!!
Shame on Americans especially the AIPAC Politicians !!!!
My mom lives in Anchorage. It will be interesting to see what, if any, TV coverage this got up there.
Just leave.
The coming disasters can be no greater than what the USA has wrought.
Just get the hell out.
You weren't invited, you're not wanted.
Just Go...we voted for Obama in the mistaken belief that he would end this tragedy, this farce of a foreign policy, this criminal conspiracy,this war for
a foreign entity.
And NO you cannot steal their oil.
USA owes major reparations, and cannot undo all the misery and death they caused.