http://mainecampus.com/2010/04/19/rally-aims-to-revitalize-peace-organization/
By Kaley Roberts
April 19th, 2010
Securing an end to the United States' wars in Afghanistan and Iraq
was the unifying topic during a peace rally Saturday in front of the
University of Maine's Fogler Library.
The rally, organized by the Maine Peace Action Committee, featured
three speakers, several bands, and an a capella performance of "Age
of Aquarius" and "Here Comes The Sun" by the cast of UMaine's
production of "Hair."
Students gathered around a picnic table on the mall to paint rally
signs with slogans such as "Live Love, Love Life," "I've Got Soul But
I'm Not a Soldier," and "Make Love Not War."
Ron Warner of Veterans for Peace addressed the crowd of approximately
40 people. The Vietnam veteran spoke to attendees about the money the
United States spends on defense, and how that money could be better
spent on education.
"Here in Maine, they're proposing cuts at [the university] while
Maine taxpayers have paid $2.8 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan since
2001," Warner said.
Warner spent last fall and winter traveling across the country,
staying in different states and talking to locals and reading local newspapers.
"Most every state was in dire financial condition and had or was
about to make drastic cuts in social services," Warner said. "The
total cost to U.S. taxpayers of our wars in and occupation of Iraq
and Afghanistan since 2001 is approximately $1 trillion." Warner
said, adding that the nation's military spending accounts for more
than 50 percent of the U.S. budget.
Warner asked the audience rhetorically why no other country in the
world feels threatened enough to "defend ourselves at such a level."
The defense budget isn't "for defense, but to intimidate countries
and support a corporate empire that rapes the world for its natural
resources and exploits the people of the world to maximize corporate
profits," Warner said.
"The proper way to defeat terrorism is through the international
cooperation of intelligence and police agencies and the elimination
of its root causes of poverty, injustice and despair," Warner said.
Joshua Trombley, who coordinated the event with Jamie Dandretta, said
that turnout to the event was not as high as he had expected. While
approximately 200 people had planned to attend, according to
Trombley, the crowd topped out at approximately 40 people.
Trombley said learning about the protesting of past generations
spurned him into action.
"I went to see the show 'Hair' four times, and that kind of inspired
me to start thinking about … protesting stuff, how large a part of
the culture it was in the '60s and '70s," Trombley said. "I realized
we've been at war for almost nine years now, and there really aren't
any large student protests."
Although Trombley was not a member of MPAC, he contacted group
faculty representative Doug Allen before planning the rally. Trombley
said the event would not have been approved without affiliation with MPAC.
Allen, speaking a short time after Warner, recounted his experiences
as a teacher during the Vietnam War, calling it "the high point of
student protest."
He went on to compare today's student protests to those of the '60s
and '70s, and while he said the energy at the Saturday rally left him
hopeful, "this is a first step and not a final step."
"I've been involved in peace work for about eight or nine years and
more so lately my son died in Iraq four and a half years ago," said
Mary Horrigan, the event's last speaker. Horrigan is a member of
American Gold Star Mothers, a group of women who have lost a son or
daughter to war.
Horrigan said she hoped her speech would "call attention to some of
the cost of this war, not only monetarily, but also physically and
psychologically."
She spent much of her speech focusing on what she called the
"propaganda machine" that goes into high schools around the nation
and recruits underprivileged students who could not otherwise afford
colleges, using "handsome, clean-cut, well-shaven" soldiers in
uniform to convince them to enlist.
When the Bangor-based band Sam and Yuri performed a cover of The
Beatles' song "Let It Be," rallygoers danced in front of them holding
their signs. Trombley raised a sign that read "Join Us" above the
crowd, inviting passersby to the gathering.
Some students who attended the rally said that they would consider
joining MPAC and being more active in pro-peace activities. Trombley
said getting people involved was the primary goal of the rally.
"Now I definitely want to get involved," said Cody Miller, a
first-year music education student. Miller said that he felt it was
time for "a love revolution."
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