What good is war for?
Nothing at all, three campus organizations want to make clear.
The Progressive Student Alliance, Feminists for Action and Ethnic Theatre Alliance hosted a march today to protest against recent military actions taken by the U.S. against Syria.
“Our goal is to voice these feelings and concerns and critiques in a visible way,” said Morgan Aprill, a member of PSA. “We want to show that we care about current events and we are scared and tired of the constant war.”
The 25 students who participated in the march made it clear they are against any type of war or violence, and would be happier if countries just existed in peace.
It started as a way to gather and show visible solidarity with the refugees and people of Syria, and then grew to include military actions the U.S. has taken, Aprill said.
“We were originally focused on criticizing Trump's jump to action before proper reviews or request were made to Congress," Aprill said.
After Syrian President Bashar al-Assad used chemical warfare to attack and kill scores of Syrians last week, President Donald Trump retaliated by authorizing the U.S. military to launch 59 cruise missiles at a Syrian military airfield on Friday. This attack expanded U.S. military involvement in Syria and risked increased direct confrontation with Russia and Iran, who both back Assad.
And on Saturday, the U.S. dropped its largest non-nuclear bomb ever in Afghanistan, killing almost 100 Islamic State fighters.
The missiles and bomb are the main reason the three groups hosted the march.
Vivian Edwards, vice president of PSA, critiqued the amount of money spent on war, which she said would be better used on education or healthcare.
“Over the last 75 years that the United States has not really engaged in any conflicts that are 'necessary.' It's been mostly over imperialism and oil and natural resources," Edwards said.
Max Engler, president of Feminists for Action, said they felt it was important for them to come out to show opposition as loudly as they could.
To Engler, the best way to deal with other countries is to not engage with them when there isn't a need to.
"If you retaliate against a country, the country is going to retaliate again and put a whole bunch of innocent civilians in danger," Engler said. "That loss of so many human lives is not really worth spreading democracy."
Gerry Waite, a research fellow at the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies at Ball State, brought a small blue bomb to show those at the rally. An Army veteran, Waite knows firsthand the damage the bombs can do.
“I brought this to show you guys your legacy," Waite said, "If you have worked, you have probably bought several of these [with your tax money]. In southeast Asia, we left 30 million of these for kids to kick around and blow themselves up. It's our legacy we see around the world.”
In Waite's eyes, peace works. He left the Army after 14 years in 1982 to become a peacemaker.
“There are some people who just need to be touched or hugged," Waite said. "I really try to make peace, and I really try to consider my contribution to it.”
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