Veterans, peace groups rally against Iraq War during march

The soldier stood before a crowd of 2,500 that jammed Walnut Park Saturday.

He has a reputation for speaking out at anti-war rallies - like this one, which was the largest to come to Syracuse since the Vietnam War era. He's currently under investigation by the Army for being absent without leave.

The soldier, who wanted to remain anonymous, said he was not speaking on behalf of the U.S. military, Fort Drum or the Army. "I am not using my official rank or title, and I am not in uniform," he said.

"My voice may be silenced, but the message carries on," he said. "Veterans know the reality of the war on the ground, and they know that this war is wrong, and they want it to end."

Protestors came Saturday from all across New York state and beyond to demand the immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. More than 60 organizations state-wide sponsored the rally, which started at the Everson Museum Plaza downtown and ended at Walnut Park.

About 2,500 people showed up for the march, according to the Syracuse Peace Council, which organized the event. The crowd had grown by the time it reached the Syracuse University campus.

Among the protestors were an estimated 200 students, according to Marshall Henry, a senior music industry major at SU and leader of the Student Peace Action Network, the peace council's student wing.

The national Campus Anti-War Network reported 30 students from Ithaca and 75 from the University of Rochester. Students were also present from Cortland, the University at Buffalo and other schools across the state.

"My generation didn't create the policies that caused these huge problems. We are just left with the aftermath," Henry said in his speech that opened the Walnut Park rally.

"As a pacifist, I believe war and violence are never the answer," he said. "Someday I dream our elected officials will have the insight to understand this."

The scene at Walnut Park was reminiscent of Woodstock footage, with long-haired, tie-dye clad students dancing in front of a stage while bands played protest songs like Phil Ochs' 1965 "I Ain't Marchin' Anymore."

But the event was highlighted by the veterans and active-duty soldiers who attended and spoke.

The march was initiated by Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), a national anti-war organization made up of Iraq veterans and active-duty soldiers with chapters in Central New York and Fort Drum.

The testimony of IVAW members during the demonstration was a marked contrast to recent reports by U.S. generals that the surge is succeeding in Iraq.

"The generals who take a stand and say we need to withdraw, they're forced to resign. So you're left with people who are willing to toe the party line," said IVAW member Adrienne Curry.

The veterans' support was essential to the success of Saturday's rally, SPC officials said.

"The key thing to realize is that these are active-duty soldiers. They're taking a risk," said John Burdick, a professor of anthropology at SU and peace council member. "Look, if these guys are ready to start putting themselves on the line, we've gotta start upping the ante."

That line, however, is unclear and dangerous in the eyes of many U.S. soldiers.

"The boundaries are murky," said Mike Blake, president of the Central New York chapter of IVAW. "It's not set in black and white how far you can go, what you can say."

The repercussions for speaking out vary based on each unit's chain of command, he said. "They could be anything from plain old ostracized to getting thrown in jail," Blake said.

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.