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GC Students Join Tens of Thousands Against Iraq War

Andrew Kennis

Millions of protesters around the world took to the streets on Saturday, March 20 in a strong show of opposition to the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

The demonstrations fell on the one-year anniversary of the Anglo-American invasion of the beleaguered oil-rich nation and, much like last year’s protests on February 15, demonstrations spanned all corners of the globe.

While Rome saw the largest turnout—estimated at well over a million—New York City also had a healthy number, depending on who you ask. Demonstration organizers United for Peace and Justice put the figure at 100,000 while Mayor Michael Bloomberg said only 36,000 showed up. As always, the actual number was probably somewhere in between.

Participants came from a wide variety of age groups and ethnicities. Some marched with friends, while others chose to add their voice to one of the many contingent groups supporting an array of causes. One such contingent of marchers represented students at the Graduate Center.

The GC contingent assembled early in the morning to prepare for the protest. Students geared up with signs and large banners, which some in the group had made at a meeting the previous week. At around 11:30, the contingent set out from the GC towards Bryant Park and proceeded down Madison Avenue towards the main platform located at 24th Street. The contingent got no closer than 28th street, however, as thousands of protesters packed into the short city blocks on Madison.

The demonstrators began marching peacefully at noon, heading north on Sixth Avenue to Herald Square, then west on 40th Street before finally turning south on Madison Avenue and returning to the platform. At one point, demonstrators almost completely circled the center of midtown Manhattan.

Graduate Center organizer Heather Gautney explained that the main purpose of the group was, “To oppose the war in Iraq and make the connection between the increase in tuition and the expenditures of the war, as well as the corporatization of the University.” Gautney also referred to an incident in which CUNY Chancellor Matthew Goldstein publicly threatened faculty who were engaged in organizing against the occupation of Iraq.

Moira Egan of the History department said that “the education connection is the most important reason why the contingent has come together.” Egan was quick to note that others came for the same reasons. A teacher from Annandale, Virginia, pointed out in a public speech that countless numbers of textbooks and school improvements could have been purchased with the billions spent on the invasion and occupation.

Faculty members were on hand as well, including esteemed geographer and Anthropology professor David Harvey. When asked what could be done about the occupation, Harvey explained that the situation was difficult. “Even with the help of the UN the prospect of withdrawal is tenuous, so essentially the Bush administration created a whole mess that’s difficult to get out of.”

Harvey expressed dismay about the “lies” of the Bush administration, which he characterized as “untruths” about “weapons of mass destruction, so-called imminent threats, and freedom and democracy being a genuine concern. The real motives are oil, in the geo-political sense, and a desire to maintain a military presence in a resource-rich region.”

On hand at the event were a number of well-known speakers, including Democratic Presidential candidate and Congressman from Ohio, Dennis Kucinich, who lambasted the Bush administration. “It is so critical that that the people in this country and all over the world rally in this cause,” he said. “It’s a cause that brings Americans together from sea to sea.” Kucinich supporters significantly outnumbered supporters of the leading Democratic Presidential candidate, Senator John Kerry, who had no visible presence at the march. Kerry did not attend the event.

Mayor Bloomberg, who praised the behavior of the police, appeared in person along several blocks of the parade route, flanked by heavy security and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. Bloomberg declined the crowd’s offer to “March with us!” and became the object of verbal scorn.

While protesters around the world expressed their opposition to the occupation, events on the ground in Iraq continued to boil. In Fallujah this past Wednesday, four US contractors for the private security firm Blackwater were killed, their bodies mutilated by an angry mob of local residents. Additionally, on the same day, five US soldiers were killed when their armored personnel carrier ran over a homemade bomb on a highway outside of Fallujah.

The latter incident brought the total number of US military fatalities during March to 48—the most in any month since last November. Furthermore, a milestone was reached in casualties: 600 soldiers have died since President Bush donned a flight suit and declared an “end to major hostilities” on the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln off the coast of northern California last May.

Even more troubling are the numbers of Iraqi civilian casualties. According to IraqBodyCount.net, which compiles mainstream press clippings from around the world in order to tabulate Iraqi casualties, the total ranges from 8,818 and 10,668.

Even former Reagan officials are beginning to express their concerns. Lawrence Korb, who served as a senior Pentagon official from 1981 to 1989, recently told The Washington Post that, “This reminds me so much of Vietnam, it’s scary. Every time in Vietnam that we kept saying there was light at the end of the tunnel, then something horrible would happen.”

During the February 15, 2003 protests, up to 30 million people marched worldwide at a time when it was still believed that war could be averted. This time, hope was more elusive. It should come as no surprise then that turnout was markedly less than last year’s historic protests. Nonetheless, millions came out together on a day that once again brought protest to all corners of the globe.

Andrew Kennis is a student in the Political Science department.