Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

Cal State-Fullerton students protest Iraq War
By Jenny Houser
Daily Titan (Cal State-Fullerton)
05/15/2007

(U-WIRE) FULLERTON, Calif. — Nearly two-dozen California State University-Fullerton students marched in protest at the Quad on Thursday while holding anti-war signs and chanting, "We want freedom. We want peace."

As music played in the background, students and passers-by gathered to catch a glimpse of the demonstration as students and guest speakers spoke out against the war in Iraq.

Students supporting the war in Iraq assembled on the grass holding signs of their own. "Freedom isn't free," they yelled over the protesting crowd.

"Yes, freedom isn't free," said guest speaker DeDe Miller, sister of Cindy Sheehan, an anti-war activist who gained international attention for her criticism of the war after her son, Casey, was killed in Iraq.

"What isn't free is the cost that we paid. It was the ultimate price," Miller said. "Only 2 percent of the people in the United States are sacrificing anything in this war, and that's the soldiers and the military families."

Referring to the pro-war demonstrators, Miller said, "I would like to tell these kids that if they support the war, why aren't they there?"

Several student groups were in attendance including Students for Peace and Social Justice and the Green Party of Orange County. Prior to the rally, GPOC leaders congratulated their members in an e-mail.

"Due to public outcry, the Army has canceled its plans to hold a big recruiting event at Cal State Fullerton. Thanks to everyone who called the university about this," the e-mail read.

"We had a phone-calling campaign to call the president of the campus because we didn't want the campus used as a recruiting tool for the Army," said guest speaker and Veterans against the War member, Jason Lemieux.

Lemieux, 24, is a political science major at Fullerton College and was discharged from the U.S. Marine Corp in July 2006.

"The war in Iraq is illegal and immoral. That's why we need to bring the troops home now," Lemieux said. "It doesn't matter how long we stay or how many troops we send. The war is already lost."

Following Lemieux's speech, a fellow member of Veterans against the War approached the podium and played "Taps" in remembrance of the fallen soldiers who sacrificed their lives in Iraq.

One student shouted "God Bless America!" at the end of the performance, and was quickly followed by clapping and cheering from fellow students.

"I think it's a good way for us to exercise our freedom," said Mena Habeeb, a CSUF student holding a sign to show support for the war. "I'm out here because from the facts I know, we are justified in our war, and in order to protect our country and our people, we have to go to war and take care of business over there."

Habeeb was one of a handful of students counter-protesting at the Quad. While the demonstration was peaceful on both ends, students made sure their opinions were heard.

"Get educated," Habeeb said as a word of advice to his fellow students. "Make sure you know what you are talking about before you start talking. If you are a republican, make sure you know why you are a republican. If you are a democrat, make sure you know why you're a democrat. I'm for the war because I am for George W. Bush."

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