Group protests Iraq war with signs and music

Group plans to join protesters in San Francisco Saturday

By MAURICE O. NDOLE

Campus Peace and Civil Liberties Coalition used banners, flyers, shirts and music to protest the war in Iraq and mark the second anniversary since the war started.

There were, however, no speakers denouncing the war during the demonstration, dubbed happy anniversary, a sarcastic reference to the deaths of American soldiers in the war.

Campus Peace and Civil Liberties Coalition president Ruth Obel-Jorgensen said her group decided to conduct the protest in music because they wanted to do something different.

“We are not going to have speakers today because people can see the visual and decide for themselves,” Obel-Jorgensen said.

The visual included a makeshift coffin draped in American flags, as well as anti-war placards and several banners with anti-war slogans spread around the speaker’s platform at the free speech area.

More than 20 black balloons, some with the inscription ‘happy anniversary, 1,500 soldiers dead, 100,000 Iraqis dead’ were taped to the ground, spread in several spots on the free speech area walkway.

Obel-Jorgensen said more than 1,500 American soldiers have died in the war already. She estimated the real number of soldiers dead as a result of the war could be 6,000.

“When they go to Germany, they die there. But those are not counted,” she said.

She said 30 to 40 members of her group planned to participate in a larger protest Saturday in San Francisco, which will mark the second anniversary of the first bombs being dropped in Iraq.

There was a moment of excitement during the protest when a student passing in the free speech area intentionally burst some of the balloons.

“Happy anniversary,” a man yelled from the speaker’s platform to counter the student who was popping the balloons.

Kelly Krueger, a junior majoring in criminology, said even though she supports the war, she didn’t see anything wrong with the protest.

“I think it’s nice that there is somebody protesting something on campus,” Krueger said.

Krueger said the U. S. did the right thing in Iraq because it stopped Saddam Hussein, a tyrant who was killing his own people.

“It bothers me that 1,500 U.S. soldiers have died, but I think it will prevent more people from dying in the future,” Krueger said.

Eric Wilderson, a member of the Campus Peace and Civil Liberties Coalition, said the protest achieved its goals because people were stopping to see what was going on.

He said a lot of people who don’t support the war felt isolated because during the elections, both Democratic and Republican presidential candidates were in support of the war.

“We are trying to show people that there is an anti-war movement at Fresno State,” Wilderson said. “We are spreading our message because the government doesn’t care and the media doesn’t care.”