Disagree, but stand behind our country
Taylor Davis, The Reflector
The anti-war movement that brought so many people into the streets around the world is continuing despite the beginning of a war in Iraq. In New York, Chicago, Washington and San Francisco last weekend, the largest peace rallies took place. Officials of the groups expect that by week’s end, protesters in 52 cities will engage in acts of civil disobedience.
Many have been and will be arrested in the protests to come. San Francisco police arrested around 2,000 people. In Chicago, at least 500 people were arrested. Although most were cited for misdemeanors and released after paying a fine, widespread chaos took place across the country as protesters took their message to an extreme.
In San Francisco, dozens of protesters were lying in the streets of the busiest areas. At one demonstration, a disturbance broke out when a protester tried to grab a police officer’s gun. Video footage from local television stations showed a man who managed to drive his minivan into a pedestrian-clogged intersection getting beaten by several protesters. His vehicle was then looted. Hundreds of people surrounded a federal office building in Chicago, lying in many of the streets to block traffic. Those who do choose to be violent and chaotic have only resorted to the very means that they are supposedly marching against.
Of course, all those who continue to protest the war don’t resort to violence. To call those protesters who remain peaceful un-American is wrong. They exude the characteristics of what it really means to be American in voicing their opposition to a war they feel is wrong. But there is a time for protest and there is a time for patriotism. These people who still feel there is a need to march in the streets against a war that has already begun are wrong in their actions.
I believe as much as anyone can in a person’s right to speak out against what is wrong, but I also understand that my country is now at war and, therefore, in a very vulnerable state. During this time, all Americans should stand behind President Bush and especially the troops fighting in Iraq.
To see chaos and violence all over the news deeply frustrates us all, but as Americans, we can believe in the goodness of our country and its leaders. As thousands of people around the world march against our country and burn American flags, it is important that all Americans stand together. I will continue to believe that this war is inherently wrong, but I will now choose to support my country and my president in the face of terrorists like Saddam Hussein.
Taylor Davis is a freshman English major.