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Citizens from as far away as Caribou assembled at Cascade Park in Bangor Saturday morning to voice their dissent against the U.S. occupation of Iraq.
“It’s time to leave [Iraq],” said Al Larson, of the Bangor Chapter of Veterans for Action. “The American public was deceived about the motivation of the occupation, and without just cause for war, we say bring the troops home now.”
The rally coincided with a larger protest held in Washington, D.C. The Long Island, N.Y. Newsday reported yesterday that about 100,000 people joined together in the nation’s capital Saturday during a three-hour march.
“A lot of our people went to D.C. About 100 people, two busloads, went down to the protest down there,” said Roxanne Munksgaard, 49, of Bangor.
Protesters in both locations called for bringing troops home from Iraq, ceasing government spending on militarization and increasing government spending on education and health care.
“The days of our troops being seen as liberators is over,” said John Hanson, director of the Bureau of Labor Education at the University of Maine and host of Saturday’s rally. “Our declaration is for a peaceful world. If we can’t get [Bush] to change the direction of the nation, we will change the administration. Change your course or we will change you,” he said.
Other speakers included Kirsten Reberg-Horton of Peace through Interamerican Community Action. The protest is the most recent in a series of demonstrations organized by the members of PICA and the Peace and Justice Center of Eastern Maine.
After a series of activists spoke about the occupation, Munksgaard and Gray Cox sang folk songs, and the protest concluded with a “chain of concern.”
About 100 of the protesters formed the human chain on State Street, holding signs and two large paper-mache doves as cars honked in passing, including Lee Davis, 70, of Orono.
“I’m a supporter of the U.N. and I think the U.N. can fix this mess we’re in,” Davis said. “The U.N. is capable of solving the problems it was built to solve.”
Although the body of protesters was largely composed of older folks, some younger protesters joined as well.
“I don’t think killing innocents is the correct thing to do for this problem,” said Ariel Harris, 12, of Orland, who was also part of the chain. “We want to raise awareness of how many people are really against this.”
“I’m here to show there are a large number of people who have not supported this war from the beginning,” said Sam Jenkins, 59, of Bangor. “Our soldiers are in danger constantly. The only right thing to do is to get them out.”
Munksgaard said other chains of concern have been larger, extending from Cascade Park to Eastern Maine Medical Center. Saturday’s chain extended slightly beyond the length of Cascade Park.
“People have been so eager to come out for this,” said Ilze Petersons, part-time program coordinator for the Peace and Justice Center. Petersons said the group wants to take action on other issues as well, including action against an Iraq conference being sponsored by UMaine on Nov. 13 in Scarborough.
“We don’t merely protest,” Larson said. “We raise our voices.”
“We will roar like the lion with the message of the dove,” said Hanson.
Bangor Daily News