ANNALS OF DISSENT Critics to mark second anniversary of US war in Iraq BY STEVEN STYCOS

As some Rhode Island peace activists prepare to commemorate the anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, others debate how to make long-term changes in American foreign policy.

On Saturday, March 19, the Community Coalition for Peace, an ad hoc group formed after fighting in Falluja in November, will demonstrate in downtown Providence to mark the beginning of the war’s third year. The group supports an immediate withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, self-determination for Iraq, and repeal of the USA Patriot Act. It also opposes reinstitution of the military draft and the use of anti-terrorism measures to discriminate against Arabs and Muslims. The demonstration is one of 162 anti-war protests organized for the anniversary by the New York-based group United for Peace and Justice. (In related news, Patrick Resta and Jim Talib, two US soldiers who recently returned from Iraq and are members of the newly formed Iraq Veterans Against the War, are slated to speak this Thursday, March 10 at 7 p.m. at Brown University, in Solomon 001.)

At 1 p.m., demonstrators will gather at the war memorial on South Main Street and then march past the headquarters of manufacturer Textron, which makes military helicopters and other military products, and a US Army National Guard recruiting office before gathering at Beneficent Congregational Church on Weybosset Street. Inside, the Afronauts, a University of Rhode Island hip-hop group, will perform and Providence City Councilmen David Segal and Miguel Luna, among others, will speak.

Coalition member Shaun Joseph of Providence says the demonstration will remind people of how the war started, and what is ahead. "It’s going to be a very long struggle," he says. "The US is in deep and they’re not going to want to leave, more than Vietnam."

Another group member, Mark Stahl of Riverside, says fighting and chaos in Iraq could actually decrease should the US withdraw. "The US is like a lightening rod for a lot of the violence," he comments, noting that group members differ over whether the United Nations should establish a peacekeeping presence in Iraq.

At 6 a.m. on March 19, before the coalition’s march begins, other anti-war activists plan to board buses to attend a similar protest in New York City. Organized by the International Action Center, a group founded by former US attorney general Ramsey Clark, the demonstration will begin in Harlem and end in Central Park to display solidarity with blacks and press the right to protest in the park, says local organizer Bill Bateman of Providence. Last August, during the Republican National Convention, the group United for Peace and Justice was denied a permit to protest in the park.

The International Action Center will also hold a 4 p.m. demonstration on Friday March 18 at Providence’s federal building in Kennedy Plaza. The rally, says Bateman, will stress "money for jobs, health-care, and education, not for war and tax cuts for the rich."

Other Rhode Island peace activists are marking the war anniversary by focusing on changing the public debate, not protesting. More is at stake than Iraq, comments Karina Wood, coordinator of Rhode Island Peace Action, who calls for a US foreign policy based on human rights, international cooperation, and the use of economic incentives, not unilateral preemptive strikes.

Carol Bragg, coordinator of the Rhode Island Peace Mission, a coalition of groups that lobbies the local congressional delegation, agrees and compares fighting terrorism to fighting fires. "You don’t keep on risking the lives of firefighters," she says, "without some focus on prevention." Citing the June 2004 report of the bipartisan Commission on Weak States and US National Security, Bragg says impoverished countries like Haiti, Somalia, and others can become breeding grounds for terrorism. To prevent future Afghanistans, she says, the US should encourage debt relief, fair trade, development, and security. "I’d like to figure out how we’re going to prevent the next war," Bragg says.