Published: March 17, 2007 10:13 pm         

Wabash Valley residents protest Iraq war

Terre Haute Stop War event draws nearly 70 participants

TERRE HAUTE — In the last column she wrote before she died, Molly Ivins called for people to protest the war in Iraq by banging pots and pans in the street, so that’s what people did.

Between 65 and 70 people lined Third Street on Saturday in front of the Vigo County Courthouse for Terre Haute Stop War on Iraq’s Fourth Anniversary of the Iraq War Demonstration, “We are the Deciders.”

From 11 a.m. to noon, people holding up signs and banging pots and pans were met with some honks and hoots from passing cars and one “Go home!”

Some of their signs read, “Make Noise for Peace,” “End the War,” and “No Escalation.”

It was Clinton resident Angie Jenkins’, 20, first time at a demonstration.

“A lot of people don’t realize what’s going on out there,” she said, holding a peace-promoting sign.

Jenkins was joined by her friend Miranda Silotto, 19, of Clinton.

Silotto said she came to the demonstration to “exercise the rights that our soldiers work for.”

“A lot of people don’t realize how much freedom we have to do these kinds of things,” she said.

Abbi Daily of Marshall, Ill., brought her 4-year-old daughter, Anna, to let her know what she believes is right, she said.

“I wanted to be a part of getting the message out that we’re not going to stand for this anymore,” she said.

Also among protesters was Terre Haute City Councilman Todd Nation, D-4th.

Nation, who was a Peace Corps volunteer when he was in college, said this was an “old interest” long before he became involved in politics.

“Many of us were out here four years ago to exert pressure” to not start the war in the first place, he said.

He said it’s a positive thing to see the “country’s collective mindset” is noticing how unjust the war is.

“We need to be out as soon as possible dealing with domestic issues, not a civil war half way across the world,” he said.

Part of their noise for peace also included a song.

“They’ve got the world in their pockets. Pockets, pockets, pockets. But their pockets got a hole,” the protesters sang.

Demonstration organizer Cathy McGuire has been at every anniversary protest, among others.

“He’s not going to change. Bush is not going to change,” she said. “Our only hope is to get Congress to vote against the supplemental bill.”

In the supplemental bill, President George W. Bush is requesting an additional $93 billion to fund the war.

“It’s a great disappointment the Democrats have been weak-kneed,” she said, because they don’t want to seem unpatriotic.

McGuire handed out flyers asking people to contact their representatives to tell him or her to vote no on the supplemental bill and yes on the amendment to end the war in Iraq.

“Molly Ivins was right, we are the deciders,” McGuire said. “Through our Congress people, we are the deciders.”

Next for the group is a presentation from Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a fallen soldier who camped in front of Bush’s ranch in 2005.

Sheehan will be speaking at 1 p.m. April 13 at the First Congregational Church.

For more information on this and other Stop War events, visit www.thstopwaroniraq.mysite.com.



Crystal Garcia can be reached at (812) 231-4271 or crystal.garcia@tribstar.com.