On Iraq war anniversary, students reflect

Six years after President George W. Bush initiated the shock and awe campaign in Iraq, U.S…. Six years after President George W. Bush initiated the shock and awe campaign in Iraq, U.S. forces will remain in Iraq under President Barack Obama’s withdrawal plan, and their numbers will increase in Afghanistan. Each year, the anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq ‘mdash; which occurred on Thursday ‘mdash; brings some people together to raise awareness of the Iraqi and American death tolls and of the billions of dollars spent on the war. And like Pittsburgh native Ed Bortz, they gather to say, ‘Enough is enough.’ ‘It’s six years way too long,’ said Bortz. ‘It should have never started. We should have never become an occupying country.’ Bortz’s is a voice shared by many others, frustrated by the consequences of the U.S. military presence abroad. In the throes of economic turmoil, people can forget that there’s a war going on, he said, but U.S. military activity is relevant to our economic troubles. Funding for the war on terror has averaged $93 billion yearly from 2003 to 2005, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Bush asked for $193 billion in 2008. Pitt freshmen Taylor Buck and Kevin Foley attended a candlelight vigil in East Liberty on Thursday to rally support for the wars’ end. ‘Anytime anyone goes to war, it’s important to help stop people from dying,’ said Buck. Foley added, ‘I feel a responsibility as another human being.’ The two attended the vigil, held every year since the war began, with Sarah Moawad, vice president of Students for Justice in Palestine at Pitt. Moawad, who spoke at the event, said that she’s noticed that more people are talking about the war’s economic impact this year. ‘We feel the direct impact when we know that our money is going to fund these occupations and to kill innocent civilians abroad,’ she said. ‘I think that’s what really hits close to home for a lot of people. It’s important for people to know those numbers.’ Candles and incense burned, and members of groups belonging to the Thomas Merton Center Anti War Committee spoke one after the other at East Liberty Presbyterian Church. They took turns behind a microphone attached to a 10-watt amp under a frieze of the Sermon on the Mount. Speakers represented PA Single Payer Health Care and Just Harvest, a group that aims to feed the hungry in Pennsylvania. Fred Logan, of Black Voices for Peace, said the diversity of the speakers is significant. ‘The causes are many,’ he said. ‘This struggle is local, national, worldwide.’ Diane Santoniello sat under the frieze, out of the wind. Her son, Neil, died in 2004 in combat in Iraq. Santoniello sat holding a candle with a picture of her son. ‘I would hope that next year we would just be commemorating the anniversary of the war and celebrating it being over,’ she said. ‘That would be nice.’ In past years, the vigil lasted all night and was followed by a march the next day. This year, the Thomas Merton Center is sending two buses to Washington instead for the national march at the Pentagon against the war. Santoniello isn’t attending. She’s recovering from surgery and, for the first time since her son’s death, isn’t well enough to walk that long. Logan isn’t going either, but has stood on the corner of Penn and Highland at 1 p.m. every Saturday since May 2004 to speak out against the war. He will be there this Saturday, he said, and will continue to be there.