On March 17, 2007, demonstrations all over the world took place to call for the United States to get out of Iraq, marking the fourth anniversary of the U.S. invasion.
Thousands of protestors marched to the Pentagon, and similar demonstrations took place globally. Here in Canada, the call from the Canadian Peace Alliance also called for Canada's military to get out of Afghanistan, where the new, supposedly democratic government is comprised of druglords and warlords.
I took part in a march and rally in Edmonton, Alberta. About 200 people gathered on the University of Albert campus to start. Before heading down Whyte Avenue, demonstrators formed a human peace sign, to take part in the International Human Peace Sign Project.
As the march headed down Whyte Avenue, one of the busiest streets in the city, people from vehicles honked horns and shouted in solidarity with us. As what commonly happens, we picked up many people along the way and by the time we reached the TransAlta Arts Barns for the indoor portion of the rally, the length of demonstrators had increased to two blocks occupying one lane of traffic.
At the indoor rally, various speakers raised important points to consider. For example, the deputy leader of the Alberta Green party, as well as the representative from the Parkland Insitute (a progressive think tank at the University of Alberta) discussed the relationship between war and the environment -- not only the environmental effects of war, but the causes of war, in this case, being oil. This really hit home when a short presentation by an advocate of the Lubicon band talked about similar issues the tribe is facing as the Iraqi people, simply because they live on oil-rich land. The Lubicon made headlines in the 1980's over land disputes which still continue to this day.
Kyle Snyder is a U.S. war resister who fled to Canada to avoid a third tour of duty in Iraq. He spoke about the challenges he has faced trying to stay in Canada, and why more and more soliders in the U.S. are realizing the war in Iraq is unjust and illegal. Hip hop artist Mohammad Ali Aumeer, from Toronto, debuted his new CD to raise support for the U.S. war resisters in Canada.
The event of March 17 provoked thought on a number of issues, from peace to the environment to war resisters, as well as specific issues concerning military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. These are likely issues to be revisited in future demonstrations.
