Spring Break
The Daily OrangeVeterans, peace groups rally against Iraq War during march
By Kyle Adams
Posted: 9/30/07, 11:10 PM EST Section: News
It is this uncertainty and fear that keeps a lot of U.S. soldiers from speaking out against a war that most of them are frustrated with, IVAW members said.
"Let me put it this way: I know people that when I say, 'Hey, how's it goin' over there?,' their response to me is 'F*ck the war,'" said Bryan Casler, an Iraq War veteran and student at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
"I don't think they've connected all the dots to realize they're against the war," Casler said. "They know that they don't want to be there, they're not doing anything to help anyone. They have to connect the dots, and in the military, you're like a horse with blinders."
The organizers hoped the event would reach soldiers at Fort Drum and elsewhere to let them know that they can speak out and that they have support.
"More soldiers see that there are other soldiers standing up and speaking out," Blake said. "That empowers them and inspires them to do it as well."
The members of IVAW stood on a stage at the south end of Walnut Park Saturday to speak to the crowd packed into the narrow stretch of grass behind Bird Library. They would later move on to a networking meeting and panel discussion at Hendricks Chapel.
People brought signs, wore homemade T-shirts and impersonated President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
At her mother's side, a young girl peered over a sign that read "Bring My Brothers Home."
Kafi Ahmad, a 55-year-old refugee from Baghdad, stood next to the stage speaking with one of the veterans. She was clutching a binder to her chest that displayed two 8-by-10 inch color photographs.
The first was of a severed head lying on a table. The second showed several bodies lying lifeless, headless, bloodied on the street.
Ahmad's family still lives in Iraq.
"I came because of what happened every day in Baghdad," she said.
She ran her hands over the graphic photos, pointing more and more urgently as she spoke through tears and broken English, trying desperately to make her point.
"Let me put it this way: I know people that when I say, 'Hey, how's it goin' over there?,' their response to me is 'F*ck the war,'" said Bryan Casler, an Iraq War veteran and student at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
"I don't think they've connected all the dots to realize they're against the war," Casler said. "They know that they don't want to be there, they're not doing anything to help anyone. They have to connect the dots, and in the military, you're like a horse with blinders."
The organizers hoped the event would reach soldiers at Fort Drum and elsewhere to let them know that they can speak out and that they have support.
"More soldiers see that there are other soldiers standing up and speaking out," Blake said. "That empowers them and inspires them to do it as well."
The members of IVAW stood on a stage at the south end of Walnut Park Saturday to speak to the crowd packed into the narrow stretch of grass behind Bird Library. They would later move on to a networking meeting and panel discussion at Hendricks Chapel.
People brought signs, wore homemade T-shirts and impersonated President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
At her mother's side, a young girl peered over a sign that read "Bring My Brothers Home."
Kafi Ahmad, a 55-year-old refugee from Baghdad, stood next to the stage speaking with one of the veterans. She was clutching a binder to her chest that displayed two 8-by-10 inch color photographs.
The first was of a severed head lying on a table. The second showed several bodies lying lifeless, headless, bloodied on the street.
Ahmad's family still lives in Iraq.
"I came because of what happened every day in Baghdad," she said.
She ran her hands over the graphic photos, pointing more and more urgently as she spoke through tears and broken English, trying desperately to make her point.
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