Daily News-Record 01/24/2004
By Melvin Mason

City Protest Calls For Free Elections In Occupied Nation

Friday’s cold temperatures could not deter a group of protesters asking for elections in the newly liberated Iraq.

Members of JustVoices, a group of local college students and residents, protested on Court Square at noon. The group is asking for better treatment of Iraqis by the U.S. military and is calling on the American government to allow for free elections.

For almost 90 minutes, more than a dozen protesters asked for better treatment of the Iraqi people. They held signs advocating elections for the Middle Eastern nation and for the return of U.S. troops from Iraq.

Demonstration organizer Michael Shank, a graduate student at Eastern Mennonite University, said the people of Iraq should have the power to choose their leaders.

“We’re here today because we want the citizens to call their senators and [President] Bush to listen to the Iraqi people,” Shank said.

The group used a mock barbed-wire fence to demonstrate their disapproval of reports about military forces ringing Iraqi villages with barbed wire.

In addition to elections, Shank also wants contracts to rebuild Iraq given to Iraqi companies. Giving the work to American firms will lead to more Iraqi resentment of the United States, Shank said.

Shank said his group isn’t asking Shenandoah Valley residents to withdraw their support for the Bush administration. Instead, he wants “what’s best for the Iraqi people.”

Fellow EMU student Tara Kreider, 21, of Harrisonburg, said she didn’t mind staying out in the cold weather to display her compassion for Iraqis.

“Yes, Saddam Hussein is gone, but we could act in a more human and comforting approach,” she said.

Contact Melvin Mason at 574-6273 or mmason@dnronline.com

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