Local anti-war protesters will lead a demonstration in downtown Starkville Monday.
The candlelit demonstration will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Oktibbeha County Courthouse.
The organizers of the demonstration said they disagree with the United States’ current war in Iraq and feel obligated to take action.
“I think that if you believe your country is on the wrong track and you don’t speak up against it, that would be the most unpatriotic thing one could possibly do,” said MSU anthropology professor Evan Peacock, one of the organizers of the demonstration.
Peacock and Janet Rafferty, also an anthropology professor at MSU, will read the names of the more than 1,200 U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq. They also plan to recognize the Iraqi deaths in the war.
The first two protests that Peacock and Rafferty led before the war in Iraq began in 2003 drew about 200 people, Rafferty said. Matt Holmes, the activities coordinator for the College Democrats, said that a lot of the members of his organization will probably attend the demonstration.
Rafferty and Peacock have led five demonstrations against the war in Iraq. Monday’s will be the first in over a year.
“People who are advocates of peace are feeling pretty isolated, so this is just to let them know that they’re not alone,” Peacock said. “We still have the chance to influence what is going on in this country.”
Rafferty said the war in Iraq is going badly and isn’t going to get any better. “That insurgency is not something you can put down by killing people,” she said. “Whenever you have an insurgency in the population like that, the only way to put it down is genocide, and that’s not acceptable.”
Rafferty said she was in college during the Vietnam War and witnessed regular citizens’ ability to change policy through demonstrations.
“Once I went to a demonstration or two I realized that taking action is better than sitting on your hands,” Rafferty said. “I think people get too easily discouraged. If you don’t do anything, you know it’s not going to have any effect.”
Peacock said that ideally, protests like his and Rafferty’s would lead U.S. and world leaders to meet and discuss two questions-“Why is there so much hatred and fear directed at the United States, and what should we do to reduce that?”
“We need our politicians to work harder at finding non-violent ways of influencing what goes on in the world,” Peacock said. “Violence begets violence and what’s going on in Iraq is clear evidence of that.”
Other Starkville residents support the war. “I wish it could be over quicker but I think it’s important to support our leader, support our troops and finish what we started,” said Lindsey Tew, president of the College Republicans. “Our troops are taking the freedom that we take for granted to Iraq.”
Tew, the College Republicans and other campus groups are also taking action in support of the war. Led by Tew, the College Republicans and other groups are sending Christmas cards to the 550 National Guardsmen from Starkville that will be heading to Iraq within the next few months. “I think it’s important to support our troops,” Tew said.
Each card will have five or six handwritten messages from MSU students, Tew said. “We’re making sure everybody gets one.”
Rafferty said she supports U.S. troops in Iraq, too. “The way we believe troops should be supported is by bringing them home now,” Rafferty said.