2008 Woodie Awards
Mission accomplished: student protest at recruiting stations
By: Macalester Students for a Democratic Society
Issue date: 4/11/08 Section: Opinion
As the total number of U.S. troop deaths passed 4,000 lives, we reflected on how our friends, relatives and classmates are unnecessarily in Iraq along with thousands of other young people, fighting a war that needs to end now! We demand that the U.S. government bring our sisters and brothers in the service home immediately and that they are cared for and provided sufficient financial assistance for their service once they return.
Recently, reports have been estimating that the Iraqi civilian death toll has passed 1,000,000 deaths with no end in sight and the total number displaced by the war is in the vicinity of 4,000,000 people. The U.S. government officials responsible for the violence and destruction need to be held accountable in addition to providing honest, no-strings-attached assistance for reconstruction. This war is an atrocity that has affected Iraq and its people in ways we will never be able to comprehend.
U.S. government-funded military recruitment targets people who cannot afford the increasing costs of living and/or the costs of higher education, while failing to adequately provide young people with alternative means of obtaining necessary skills for the future. We believe that shutting down recruiting stations throws a wrench into the gears of a system that fails to support its young people (students, workers and such) who are in need of financial assistance.
We believe, for the above reasons and more, that this war is a disgrace; it is an illegal occupation of Iraq which has killed at least a million Iraqis and thousands of American troops. We have marked anniversary after anniversary, hoping that someone in charge will hear our screaming voices and realize that the people of Iraq and all people have a basic right to self-determination and autonomy. Our voices have not been heard; so now, by physically locking ourselves to a recruiting station, we demand that all United States troops be withdrawn and the Iraqi people be given complete control of their country, free from foreign occupation and influence.
Recently, reports have been estimating that the Iraqi civilian death toll has passed 1,000,000 deaths with no end in sight and the total number displaced by the war is in the vicinity of 4,000,000 people. The U.S. government officials responsible for the violence and destruction need to be held accountable in addition to providing honest, no-strings-attached assistance for reconstruction. This war is an atrocity that has affected Iraq and its people in ways we will never be able to comprehend.
U.S. government-funded military recruitment targets people who cannot afford the increasing costs of living and/or the costs of higher education, while failing to adequately provide young people with alternative means of obtaining necessary skills for the future. We believe that shutting down recruiting stations throws a wrench into the gears of a system that fails to support its young people (students, workers and such) who are in need of financial assistance.
We believe, for the above reasons and more, that this war is a disgrace; it is an illegal occupation of Iraq which has killed at least a million Iraqis and thousands of American troops. We have marked anniversary after anniversary, hoping that someone in charge will hear our screaming voices and realize that the people of Iraq and all people have a basic right to self-determination and autonomy. Our voices have not been heard; so now, by physically locking ourselves to a recruiting station, we demand that all United States troops be withdrawn and the Iraqi people be given complete control of their country, free from foreign occupation and influence.
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