Cultural Event

I attended most of the anti-war rally on September 29. I left in the middle of the speeches at Hendricks Chapel. There were a large number of people, with many different ethnicities and ages, although the majority was of people who looked over 40. There were a lot of signs. The signs ranged from blaming Bush and Cheney, to being proud of our troops and ashamed of the war, to signs advocating peace. The walk was an interesting mix of a protest and and a walk to cure cancer. People were walking just for walking with the rally and others were protesting while walking. Scott Ritter, Dahlia Wasfi, and Jim Massey were the three major speakers. Ritter is a former UN weapons inspector and Wasfi is a doctor who lived in Iraq when she was a child. Jim Massey is a veteran of the Iraqi war. All of them spoke adamantly against the war and were well received by the crowd. Much of what they said centered around bringing the troops home, how Bush and those who voted for the war are horrible people, and that what we did to Iraq and the people who lived there was wrong. Walking along with the rally was cool, as it showed how people with different opinions could exist together in a country without resulting in violence. That a protest that goes against our government could be held. However the bullcrap that the audience was fed and gobbling up was too much for me. It was unbleievable some of the stuff the speakers were saying. That all of Iraq's problems were linked to our involvement. That Bush and his presidency were evil. It's incredible that they thought that Iraq was better off without us. I don't believe they realized that under Saddam a rally like this couldn't be held. They complain about how horrible our country is for doing this and that Iraq was better off before we attempted to liberate them. I don't see how they could've believed that to be true, but the audience loved it. They were applauding at everything that the speakers were saying. I believe that this is because of the march earlier. People had gotten caught up in the anti-war rally and took on the mob mentality. I didn't believe most of what the speakers said. And for those of you who say that the speakers were there becuase they want people to know the so-called "truth" about the Iraq war, I heard that they were paid a large lump sum to do this. That doesn't sound like speaking for the "truth". After I left Hendricks Chapel, I realized what had shocked me most. Not what the speakers said, but how easily the crowd accepted it as total reality. It was an interesting look at the anti-war movement.