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News :: Peace |
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Anti-War Rally At UIUC |
Current rating: 3 |
by Tom Mackaman
Email: mackaman (nospam) uiuc.edu (verified) |
09 Oct 2002
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Over two hundred students and workers rallied on the Quad at the University of Illinois on Monday to mark the one year anniversary of the attack on Afghanistan and to protest the planned escalation of "the war on terrorism" to include Iraq. |
Over two hundred students and workers rallied on the Quad at the University of Illinois on Monday to mark the one year anniversary of the attack on Afghanistan and to protest the planned escalation of "the war on terrorism" to Iraq. The rally started at noon, swelling as speakers pounded out a damning indictment of the Bush regime's murderous and imperialistic intentions, while activists weaved through the assembled crowd and beyond, distributing anti-war literature to protesters and bystanders alike. It ended with approximately one hundred chanting demonstrators marching around the quad behind the "Grim Reaper."
Bush to be Impeached
Law Professor Peter Boyle capped a distinguished group of speakers by launching a campaign to impeach leading members of the Bush regime, including the President, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld. Joe Miller of Vietnam Veterans Against War reminded the audience that the Bush regime's goal of world domination will require a growing army and the return of the draft. The Bush family goal of overcoming the so-called "Viet Nam syndrome," he warned, is nothing less than the ruling elite's hope that Americans will "get over" their repulsion and opposition to the mass death necessary in imperialist adventures such as Viet Nam and Iraq. Carl Estabrook, Green Party candidate for the 15th District, detailed some of the underlying and unstated motivations for Bush's war, focusing on the regime's insatiable hunger for dominating oil markets and it's goal of distracting Americans from the worsening economic situation, for which they continue to offer no solution. He also exposed the connivance of the Democratic Party in the current frenzy of Washington warmongering. Estabrook pointed out differences between himself and both his opponents: while the Republican incumbent claims to not have enough information to make a decision regarding Iraq, the "dove" Democratic challenger favors continuing the criminal bombing and inhumane embargo against the suffering Arab nation, policies that have already resulted in hundreds and thousands of deaths.
Democrats in the Background
The presence of a Democratic Party "get out the vote" booth provided an ironic backdrop to the rally, while comments made by the student Democrats further illustrate the ineffectiveness of the official opposition party. Two young volunteers said they were opposed to the planned invasion of Iraq, but when asked to comment on leading Congressional Democrats' support for the attacks, the students could respond only that it is "sad." They put their hope, they said, in a change in leadership within the Democratic Party. As the rally broke up, another student Democrat took a bullhorn and mocked demonstrators, saying "make a real difference, register to vote." In an interview, he apologized for and retracted those statements. But when asked how registering and voting "makes a real difference" when Democrats repeatedly ignore the overwhelming anti-war sentiments of their constituents, the young Democrat could offer only muddled evasions. He proposed that, in since Dick Durbin opposes the war (read: the new phase of the war), it cancels out the war supporter Rod Blagojevich. Additionally, he argued, Durbin will stay in Washington, where his "opposition" will matter, while Blagojevich will be in Springfield, taking his support for the war with him away from Washington to the safe confines of the Land of Lincoln.
A Way Out
Clearly, basing opposition to the war on appeals to the Democratic Party represents a political blind alley for the peace movement, as history has repeatedly taught. The rally itself, on the other hand, offered an embryonic example of how an effective opposition might look: students, workers, dedicated academics, local activists, Americans and internationals, blacks, whites, and latinos, women and men. Opposition must be based on such a crowd multiplied geometrically and geographically: the independent struggle of working people everywhere, at home and internationally. It must link up with the growing tidal wave of anti-war sentiment in Europe, the Middle East, and beyond. And it must be consciously and conscientiously guided by the truth that struggle against the internationally predatory policies of oilman Bush and his desperate cabal of corporate criminals cannot be separated from the struggle for economic and social justice in the United States.
Monday's rally reflected such a growing consciousness, both in the words of the speakers and the immutable anger and apprehension of those in attendance. Three local workers who attended the rally on their lunch breaks offered no illusions. Frank Campbell, a Viet Nam Veteran, pointed out the Bush administration's continuing unwillingness to supply any proof in regard to Iraq's "weapons of mass destruction," and noted that it amounts to a political ploy for an election year. "A lot of innocent people are going to die," he warned. Floyd Van Dyke added that "they don't even have Bin Laden yet," and echoing Campbell predicted, "there's going to be a lot of casualties... people are going to die, and for what reason?" |
