Students Engage in “Day of Resistance” on March 20th

On Fifth Anniversary of Iraq War, Students Demand That an Army Recruitment Center on Campus is Shut Down

Who: Students from Columbia College, DePaul, and then members of World Can’t Wait

What: “Day of Resistance” actions for counter-recruitment which will include street theater, painting, music, street theater, and a press conference at 8 AM when the actions start

When: 8am - Press Conference, 9 am –2:30 –street theater, music, speak-outs with professors, students, and other activists, and painting will occur 2:30 pm- march to Art Institute to join WCW for a “feeder” march to Federal Plaza for the 5 pm “convergence”

Where: Harrison & State in the Loop in front of the U.S. Army Recruitment Center

Why: This event will be part of various resistance events to occur nationwide on March 20th and will show solidarity with veterans who are resisting the war by speaking out at events like the Winter Soldier Investigation and soldiers who are refusing to fight by going AWOL, etc. Students will gather in front of a recruitment center to express the importance of stopping enlistment so that the illegal war in Iraq (illegal because it violates the UN Charter, a ratified treaty under our Constitution) ends now. They will also express how this war is immoral by highlighting the dehumanization of Iraqis, the deaths of over 1 million Iraqi civilians to date, and the displacement and creation of over 2 million Iraqi refugees as a result of occupation.

The students will also question the military recruiters’ right to recruit high school students for an illegal war. When considering that this is an illegal war and that students are being targeted, manipulated, and lied to when being recruited for this war, the military recruitment centers nationwide should close down operations and not be allowed to recruit. They are fueling an occupation, a war without end, and must be held accountable for conducting business as usual.

Finally, students will call for people to take action and be part of the peace movement instead of simply planning to vote for “antiwar candidates” Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama in November. Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama plan to leave a permanent presence of 40,000 to 60,000 troops in Iraq and have no plans to remove or regulate any of the private contractors in Iraq. There are only plans to continue to restructure laws in Iraq so that the U.S. can control Iraq’s oil. And these are plans that require troops to occupy Iraq for not just years but decades.