Walkout Targum Op/ed by Suzan Sanal

To the Editor:
The 5th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq approaches on March 19th. We will move into the 6th year of a war in which US forces have incurred close to 4,000 fatalities and 30,000 wounded. Estimates of Iraqi fatalities, causalities, displacements and refugees are in the millions, from a pre-war population of 25 million. Projections of the cost to the US treasury are over $2 trillion. What can the Rutgers community do at this moment to express our opposition to the continuing devastation of this war that should have never been started?

WALK-OUT ON THURSDAY, MARCH 27TH AT 1:23PM

Last year, a coalition of student organizations organized a university-wide demonstration that included a walk-out, rally, protest, and march. With little over a month to get it together, the Rutgers community held the largest East Coast action on the anniversary of the war and the second largest in the entire nation. Students, faculty members, and staff walked out of their classes, jobs, dorm rooms, and dining halls and joined a rally at the Vietnam Memorial in the center of Voorhees Mall on College Ave. We listened to fellow students from organizations involved in the coalition, members of the faculty, an Iraqi-American student, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War and Rutgers alumnus, and the mother of Rutgers alumnus U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Seth Jeremy Dvorin who was killed in action in Iraq.

After our rally we took to the streets of New Brunswick and marched to the Marine Recruiting Station on New Street to protest the use of Rutgers resources to attract students into the armed forces with empty promises of tuition coverage and benefits. We chanted to the beats of drums, “One! We are the Students! Two! This is our Movement! Three! We will not join the mil-a-tar-y!” We voiced that military recruiting should be honest, with full disclosure of risks and benefits to prospective recruits, and until then, we refuse to view joining the military as an option.

We followed that rally with an unexpected march on Route 18, which resulted in shutting down the highway for 15 minutes. Construction workers flashed peace signs and gave us thumbs-up and drivers honked in support. Members of the New Brunswick community joined our rally. All along we chanted, “Show me what democracy looks like! This is what democracy looks like!” We hit the Associated Press wires and drew national attention across college campuses.

We ended the Walk-Out back at the Vietnam Memorial, inspired to continue our actions against the war and to continue supporting veterans and Iraqi civilians.

And we’re doing it again…

The Occupation of Iraq is still going on and we need to continue to insist on full and immediate withdrawal of all US troops from Iraq. Our government needs to listen to Americans, U.S. troops in Iraq, and Iraqis, who all overwhelmingly oppose the continued war and occupation and want it to end soon.

WE NEED YOUR HELP! Our coalition has grown, but we need the Rutgers community’s support to organize this year’s Walk-Out. We are holding a mass meeting in the Graduate Student Lounge on College Ave. next to the Rutgers Student Center behind Au Bon Pain at 9pm tonight. We want your input. We need your help getting the word out and planning. We are confident that that this year’s Walk-Out will be even bigger and bolder than last year’s. You won’t want to miss it…

5 YEARS TOO MANY! BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW!