Protests continue as Iraq war wanes

By Jack Gillum

As the conflict in Iraq seems to come to a close, war opponents are doing anything but quitting.

Since coalition forces entered Iraq weeks ago, both local and national figures have voiced strong opposition against military operations to oust President Saddam Hussein from power.

During the past month, two rallies at Santa Clara have focused primarily on the Iraq war. The most recent gathering, held Friday near the bookstore, also brought attention to budget cuts, INS detentions and "racist firings," according to Associated Student President Kristin Love.

"The war is not only affecting the people of Iraq, but it is affecting us at home," said Love in a campus-wide e-mail.

At the rally, both local and nationally-known figures spoke on what they see as ill-directed foreign and domestic policies by the current administration.

"This is what we did 36 years ago, and we're pretty much in the same place, dropping bombs on other human beings," said David Hilliard, a founding member of the Black Panther Party. "This is just totally so disturbing and so absolutely atrocious."

"We support our troops, but we don't support imperialism," voiced Citlali Vasquez-Ramos, a "concerned student" who introduced many of the speakers.

"This is the opportunity to be a true American," she said.

Concerning domestic politics, Ed Steinman, a professor at Santa Clara's law school, raised objections to what he sees as a stripping of civil liberties in a post-Sept. 11 era.

"We have a notion in this country that if national security is arguably involved, we wind up giving the executive branch broad if not total powers," said Steinman. "We wind up ignoring these rights."

All of the 28 Jesuit schools across the nation hosted or planned war vigils last February, according to the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU).

"It's not just an antiwar protest, but also how we build a better world and how be break down walls," said university President Paul Locatelli, S.J., of Friday's rally.

Protests against the war have been present throughout the school year. Last December, the city's Federal Building was the site for several Santa Clara students who participated in a five-day fast to protest U.S. military action against Saddam.

A Bay Area group called Nonviolent Peaceforce had planned to send "human shields" to areas of potential conflict including Sri Lanka, according to Mary Novak in the Bannan Center. She believes this could give Santa Clara students something to say "yes" to when they say "'no' to war."

Locatelli, who has voiced concern over a conflict in Iraq, sees a need for international support in that country's post-war reconstruction.

"I believe the easy part has been done," he said. "The difficulty now is how we restore some sense of order as well as really let the Iraqi people determine their own governance."

Other organizations, such as Labor Against War and South Bay Mobilization Against War (SBMAW), underscored the fact that the rally's scope expanded past the boundaries of Santa Clara. Volunteers from these organizations had their own views, especially regarding media coverage.

"The entire reporting of the war is one sided," argued Shishir Thadani, a SBMAW volunteer. "I can't believe that they [Iraqis] would be seeing this a liberation."

Last weekend, thousands of students walked out of class to voice opposition to an Iraq war, according to the activist group International ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism). Several Santa Clara students staged acts of civil disobedience in San Francisco March 20 and were arrested by police.