"No amount of screaming will bring back a dead soldier,” says Brandon Day, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War and a Minnesota resident. Day served two tours in Iraq and has been home for a year.
The memories of pulling the body of his dead buddy from a humvee will live with him forever. He appeals to Americans to keep pressuring the government to bring all the troops home -- and be prepared to help them through the “detoxification” process when they arrive.
Brandon Day (L), IVAW member, spoke at an anti-war rally in St. Paul, MN on Sept. 15. Photo by Bert Schlauch, Minneapolis, MN
We heard Day speak last Saturday after yet another march in support of the soldiers who are against this war and in solidarity with Iraqis and like-minded Americans.
Along with voting and calling our representatives and senators, and encouraging corporate media to report the truth, marching and attending rallies is about all we citizens can legally do.
While an estimated 1,500 marched in Minnesota, many thousands participated in a march and mass die-in Washington, DC, where 190 were arrested for attempting to cross a police barrier in front of the Capitol.
Support the Troops Much?
U.S. Capitol Police officers surround and arrest an unidentified anti-war demonstrator dressed in his military fatigues as he crosses a security barricade erected on Capitol grounds, Saturday, Sept. 15, 2007, in Washington. At least 150 protesters were arrested Saturday as thousands of demonstrators marched to the Capitol demanding an end to the Iraq war . (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Minnesota State Capitol Rally, St. Paul, September 15, 2007
It’s somewhat heartening that my representative, Betty McCollum, has joined other House members in vowing not to vote for another blank check for war but for a bill that funds the safe redeployment of troops out of Iraq. (Unfortunately, only 70-some legislators have made the pledge out of a total field of 435.)
Following General Patraeus’ long predicted dog-and-pony show this past week, McCollum responded with a brief statement: “Today's testimony by Gen. Petraeus offered a dramatic moment, but absolutely nothing to dispel the brutal reality that after four and a half years of war and the loss of nearly four thousand American lives, Iraq remains a pathetic, violent, failed state."
Our own state of affairs is becoming rather pathetic. We have so many needs that are going unmet while the country goes deeper in debt. Our national debt is over $9 trillion, and growing at a rate of $1.46 billion per day. (Your personal share is $29,767.63, as of 9/15/07.)
Poverty is growing, college is less attainable, wages are shrinking, bridges are collapsing and nearly 50 million Americans have no health care. Scientists leading the research into our most devastating diseases tell us federal funding is gone; medical research is limited to drug trials financed by pharmaceutical companies and a few independent foundations.
