| 6/6/2006 8:59:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article |
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| U.S. military veterans Kelly Dougherty, left, and Elizabeth Spradlin speak out against the Iraq along along with Dr. Dahlia Wasfi, who has family living in Iraq. Their comments came during the Back from Iraq forum Sunday at the Steam Plant Theater. The program was sponsored by the Central Colorado Coalition on the Iraq War. Photo by Kirsten Laskey |
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National Guard veterans say exit the war
by Kirsten Laskey
Mail Staff Writer
Iraq occupation is a failure creating an endless series of disasters and the only solution is to halt occupation.
That was the message presented clearly during the Back From Iraq forum Sunday afternoon.
Three speakers delivered the message at the Steam Plant Theater. Colorado Army National Guard veterans Kelly Dougherty and Elizabeth Spradlin of Cañon City and Dr. Dahlia Wasfi who has family members in Iraq.
Each woman spoke against the war. Dougherty co-founded the Iraq Veterans Against the War in which Spradlin is also involved.
Spradlin and Dougherty are also members of Vets4Vets, a peer support program for soldiers returning from Iraq.
Wasfi grew up in Iraq and has family living in Basra.
She visited them in 2004 and again from December 2005 through March.
She shared her experiences during her first trip with Salida residents in November 2005 and testified in April before Congress during an Iraq forum sponsored by Rep. Lynn Woolsey of California.
Her second trip to Basra revealed things hadn’t changed much for the Iraqi people, Wasfi said Sunday.
Buildings bombed last year are still in ruins and although traffic lights were constructed, electricity continues to be sporadic so they don’t work.
Civilians continue to be caught in the crossfire – Wasfi showed a photograph of a man who was incinerated and another of a dead infant whose mother was shot while she was pregnant.
“This is not a war on terror,” Wasfi said, “It’s a war of terror. We have to take ourselves out of the equation – we don’t belong there.”
Talking to citizens during her visit to the country earlier this year, Wasfi learned Iraqis want only normalcy.
She told The Mountain Mail after the forum, “They just want to live their lives.”
Wasfi isn’t the only one who believes the government should withdraw troops. She reported a survey conducted by Zogby International and Le Moyne College showed that of 944 military personnel surveyed, 72 percent believed they should leave Iraq within a year.
Dougherty and Spradlin are among military personnel who believe the U.S. should exit Iraq.
They each served in the national guard from 1997 to 2004. They served in Iraq from February 2003 to February 2004 as military police.
In Iraq they experienced everything from soldiers pelting rubber bullets upon civilians to children accidentally run over by military trucks.
Spradlin and Dougherty said U.S. troops are also victims in the occupation.
Wasfi agreed, “(The government) is making making teenage boys ... angry, jacked up and ready to kill anyone.”
Spradlin said reportedly 18 percent of U.S. soldiers in Iraq suffer from mental health problems.
As a result, Spradlin and Dougherty are motivated to speak against the war.
“When I speak, I hope people get the emotional impact of the war on individuals and U.S. soldiers,” she said.
She said people need to be aware the war isn’t just ending lives, but is hurting communities and families.
Spradlin said she hopes people educate themselves about the war and “raise awareness of what is going on.”
Wasfi encouraged forum participants to “not give up” the fight to halt the occupation.
She told The Mail some people won’t budge their position regarding the war, but Wasfi said she tries to reach the people who are “in the middle” or who remain undecided about their position.
If one person is persuaded to support ending the occupation, they can encourage another to do the same, she said.
She encouraged people to “get out and investigate for yourself – find out for yourself” what is occurring in Iraq.
Petitions supporting U.S. troops leaving Iraq were available to sign during the forum and a resolution opposing the war will be presented to Salida City Council.
Coalition member Jim Potter told The Mail there is no formal date set for presentation of the proposed resolution.
He said they want to present “a nice, big, hefty stack of petitions” to council members.
“I think at this point, there is this widespread public angst toward the war ... but there is this element of holding back.
“(People) are in a malaise state right now,” he said.
The resolution, Potter explained, would give people a focal point to get into action. It condemns the invasion of international law and the Geneva Convention and calls for the immediate withdrawal of American troops.
Petitions are available at http://cencoloiraq.org for those interested in signing.
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