Marching for war's end
Students and locals protest on three year anniversary of Iraq war
Andrew Riggs / The Collegian
Demonstrators met on Cedar and Shaw and marched to the Free Speech Area in a protest against the Iraqi war. The Free Speech Area had a table from Planned Parenthood, booths to register for both the Democratic and Green Party and a film held in the University Student Union.
Below: “I’m out here by myself,” said Pete Linsenmeyer, one of the 200 people who took part in the protests.
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By Katrina Garcia
The Collegian
About 200 people came together Saturday at Fresno State to commemorate the three-year anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Demonstrators included high school and Fresno State students in addition to university faculty members and members of the general public.
Deanna Evans, a retired Fresno State professor of counseling, rehabilitation and special education, was among the anti-war protestors.
“I’m frustrated and deeply saddened,” Evans said of the ongoing war. “100,000 Iraqis are dead. Saddam’s done horrible things. It’s very saddening.”
Evans said she has worked for social change throughout her life, from civil rights to the Vietnam War.
At each of the four corners on Cedar and Shaw Avenues, protestors held signs that read, “No Blood for Oil” and “War Based on Lies is Not a Noble Cause” among others. One small girl held up the sign reading “Your kid is next.”
The event was part of “Rally in the Valley,” organized by Peace Fresno and the Campus Peace and Civil Liberties Coalition. Culminating in the Free Speech Area, the rally included live music and booths to register for the Democratic and Green parties, as well as representatives of Planned Parenthood and 88.1 FM, the free speech radio station for Central California.
Two guest speakers, Nadia McCaffrey and Dr. Sureya Sayadi, highlighted Saturday’s rally.
McCaffrey made headlines when she invited the media to cover the story of her son’s flag-draped casket returning to California for his burial in June 2004. She also traveled to the Middle East and spoke to Iraqi mothers.
Sayadi, born in Kirkuk, Iraq, fled the country when she was 12 and is now the vice president of an international non-profit organization for women and children in the Middle East.
“Everyone can do something to end this nightmare,” McCaffrey said. “Don’t think about it — act.”
People from all over the Valley came to protest the war. Andrew Valencia, a Reedley High School student and president of Students for Peace, said he is supportive of the effort to set a withdrawal timetable for the soldiers in Iraq.
“I’m not surprised that another year has gone by,” Valencia said, “but I didn’t think it was going to be that bad. People who feel the way I do should make their voices heard and push for change in the administration.”
Fresno State freshman Casimiro Llamas said he is surprised U.S. soldiers continue to remain in Iraq after three years.
“It’s a little ridiculous,” Llamas said, “and no one’s sure why we’re there. It upsets me. People are dying every day.”
Demonstrators who attended previous anti-war rallies, like 22-year-old Adrian Maciel, said they received much more support Saturday than in past rallies.
“We have five times more people honking,” Maciel said of the motorists who passed by the demonstrators. “I think we’re in good company.”
Maciel, a Fresno City College student and former Marine, said students can get involved by voting for people who will get the troops out.
“I knew good guys who never came home,” Maciel said. “I cannot find justification for this. Not enough people are paying attention, and that’s why grave injustices are being committed.”
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