- Home >
- Top Stories
Events observe Iraq war anniversary
March 23, 2007
Students marked the fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq with an awareness event on Red Square during last Monday’s chapel break and a panel discussion featuring faculty members later that evening.
Wearing red and black T-shirts, 50 students braved the wind and rain to lay strewn out on Red Square during the awareness event designed to illustrate the human sacrifice of war. Six students wore black shirts to represent the 3,144 American soldiers killed in the conflict, while 44 students wore red shirts to represent the 2,944 Iraqi soldiers and 52,187 civilians killed since 2003.
“People don’t remember in war, regardless of political ideology, the need to remember the sacrifices that are being made daily,” said senior Shannon Murphy, president of the PLU Democrats.
Murphy noted the exact death count for Iraqi civilians is presently unknown, and estimations vary widely, from 52,000 to 655,000. For the awareness event, the students used estimates maintained by the campaign group, Iraq Body Count, which uses media reports as the source for each death and whose figures are used by the BBC, Murphy said.
Unlike the U.S. military, which diligently tracks the number of American soldiers killed in combat, there isn’t a single organization keeping an official tally of the Iraqis killed. A number of organizations are tracking the death toll, but each gathers its information in different ways and reports different numbers, she explained.
The event helped raise student awareness about the conflict, and it received both positive and negative feedback. Murphy pointed out that even the negative feedback was positive because it showed that people were paying attention.
“I think people have really sacrificed a lot, and we’re trying to make a point to the student body,” said senior Ian Corbridge, who participated in the awareness event as an Iraqi casualty. The event gave him an opportunity to express his opinion and encourage dialogue on the topic.
“I hope people were inconvenienced by it for two seconds to remind them of those – the Iraqis and American soldiers – who are inconvenienced by it daily,” Murphy said.
Conversation about the war and the U.S. involvement continued at a panel discussion that attracted about 75 students. Political science professor Sid Olufs and philosophy professors Paul Menzel and Pauline Kaurin served as panelists.
All three panelists teach courses related to the Iraq war. In Olufs’ “Politics of War in Iraq” course, his students use “Just War Theory” to evaluate whether the United States was warranted to use military force in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Olufs started teaching the course in the summer of 2002, when the war in Afghanistan was already underway and war in Iraq was looming. Since the beginning, his students have been able to justify the war in Afghanistan but never the conflict in Iraq, he said.
“In my opinion, all the good options (in Iraq) have burned up,” Olufs said. “Our best hope is it’s a repeat of the Spanish civil war: it’s going to be awful, it’s going to be nasty, but if we’re lucky, it won’t spill over their borders.”
Both Menzel and Kaurin agreed the invasion was not justified, and the options left in the country are limited. Still, Kaurin said that regardless of whether the U.S. should have used military force, it did, and now the country has a moral obligation to salvage what can be saved in Iraq.
“If you invade a country and wage war, there are moral consequences for it,” she said.
If the U.S. leaves too soon and Iraq collapses, it sets a bad precedent, Kaurin said. There are consequences for every action, and the U.S. needs to own up to its responsibilities in Iraq. The hurdles currently facing Iraq revolve around political problems that can’t be solved through military action, she added.
Kaurin also stressed the role technology has played in Iraq conflict. In the early days, Americans were optimistic and placed their faith in their technological supremacy. Even during the first few days of the invasion, military analysts were describing the capabilities of U.S. weapons with all the enthusiasm of a 10-year-old boy, she said.
“We place lots of value on technology to lose less lives,” Kaurin said. “We underestimate how bad it’s going to be.”
Menzel drew parallels between the Vietnam War and Iraq. He said that once again, the U.S. is an outside force entering into a conflict – the strife between Shiites and Sunnis – about which it is largely uninformed. The division between Iraq’s Sunni and Shiite populations is rooted in 1,300 years of history, and the U.S. can’t expect that to change through democracy, Menzel explained.
The panel discussion provided valuable insights about the war and gave students a good opportunity to ask questions, said sophomore Rebecca Richardson. The war is a hot topic on campus, particularly because both sides are well represented, which virtually guarantees a good conversation.
“Keep talking about (the war),” she said. “Whether you’re for or against it, go beyond your words. Don’t just speak it. Put your words into action.”
The Iraq war awareness events were sponsored by the PLU Democrats, the Global Awareness Team and Students for Peace.
“People don’t remember in war, regardless of political ideology, the need to remember the sacrifices that are being made daily,” said senior Shannon Murphy, president of the PLU Democrats.
Murphy noted the exact death count for Iraqi civilians is presently unknown, and estimations vary widely, from 52,000 to 655,000. For the awareness event, the students used estimates maintained by the campaign group, Iraq Body Count, which uses media reports as the source for each death and whose figures are used by the BBC, Murphy said.
Unlike the U.S. military, which diligently tracks the number of American soldiers killed in combat, there isn’t a single organization keeping an official tally of the Iraqis killed. A number of organizations are tracking the death toll, but each gathers its information in different ways and reports different numbers, she explained.
The event helped raise student awareness about the conflict, and it received both positive and negative feedback. Murphy pointed out that even the negative feedback was positive because it showed that people were paying attention.
“I think people have really sacrificed a lot, and we’re trying to make a point to the student body,” said senior Ian Corbridge, who participated in the awareness event as an Iraqi casualty. The event gave him an opportunity to express his opinion and encourage dialogue on the topic.
“I hope people were inconvenienced by it for two seconds to remind them of those – the Iraqis and American soldiers – who are inconvenienced by it daily,” Murphy said.
Conversation about the war and the U.S. involvement continued at a panel discussion that attracted about 75 students. Political science professor Sid Olufs and philosophy professors Paul Menzel and Pauline Kaurin served as panelists.
All three panelists teach courses related to the Iraq war. In Olufs’ “Politics of War in Iraq” course, his students use “Just War Theory” to evaluate whether the United States was warranted to use military force in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Olufs started teaching the course in the summer of 2002, when the war in Afghanistan was already underway and war in Iraq was looming. Since the beginning, his students have been able to justify the war in Afghanistan but never the conflict in Iraq, he said.
“In my opinion, all the good options (in Iraq) have burned up,” Olufs said. “Our best hope is it’s a repeat of the Spanish civil war: it’s going to be awful, it’s going to be nasty, but if we’re lucky, it won’t spill over their borders.”
Both Menzel and Kaurin agreed the invasion was not justified, and the options left in the country are limited. Still, Kaurin said that regardless of whether the U.S. should have used military force, it did, and now the country has a moral obligation to salvage what can be saved in Iraq.
“If you invade a country and wage war, there are moral consequences for it,” she said.
If the U.S. leaves too soon and Iraq collapses, it sets a bad precedent, Kaurin said. There are consequences for every action, and the U.S. needs to own up to its responsibilities in Iraq. The hurdles currently facing Iraq revolve around political problems that can’t be solved through military action, she added.
Kaurin also stressed the role technology has played in Iraq conflict. In the early days, Americans were optimistic and placed their faith in their technological supremacy. Even during the first few days of the invasion, military analysts were describing the capabilities of U.S. weapons with all the enthusiasm of a 10-year-old boy, she said.
“We place lots of value on technology to lose less lives,” Kaurin said. “We underestimate how bad it’s going to be.”
Menzel drew parallels between the Vietnam War and Iraq. He said that once again, the U.S. is an outside force entering into a conflict – the strife between Shiites and Sunnis – about which it is largely uninformed. The division between Iraq’s Sunni and Shiite populations is rooted in 1,300 years of history, and the U.S. can’t expect that to change through democracy, Menzel explained.
The panel discussion provided valuable insights about the war and gave students a good opportunity to ask questions, said sophomore Rebecca Richardson. The war is a hot topic on campus, particularly because both sides are well represented, which virtually guarantees a good conversation.
“Keep talking about (the war),” she said. “Whether you’re for or against it, go beyond your words. Don’t just speak it. Put your words into action.”
The Iraq war awareness events were sponsored by the PLU Democrats, the Global Awareness Team and Students for Peace.