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Twin Town High (vol. 8) |
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Thirty five hundred U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq
Monday 11 June @ 13:33:32 |
 
by KATRINA PLOTZ
On Thursday, June 8, the Associated Press announced the 3,500th U.S. military death in Iraq. The following day, over 50 peace activists gathered at Hennepin Avenue and Oak Grove Street in Minneapolis to mark the grim milestone and demonstrate their opposition to the ongoing occupation of Iraq. The demonstration was organized by the Iraq Peace Action Coalition, who spread the word via e-mail. They called people to promote the message: 3,500 deaths too many – Not one more death, not one more dollar; Iraqis and GIs are dying – End the war now.
After displaying signs and banners for an hour at all four corners of the intersection, vigil participants gathered for a closing rally. Julie Larson, of Military Families Speak Out, tearfully announced that her son will be redeployed to Iraq after already having served a year in combat. “I did not raise my child to be a killer,” she said. “This war must end now before it steals even more of our children’s futures.” Meredith Aby, of the Anti-War Committee encouraged people to continue pressuring Democrats to take a bolder stand against the war. “To me, they seem more anti-Bush than anti-war,” she said. “They place all the blame on Republicans while they continue to fund the occupation. They want to use the war as an election issue, but people are dying every day. Our children, our families and the Iraqi people are human beings, not election issues.” 
Statistics show that during four years of military occupation, violence has only increased in Iraq. Twenty-three U.S. soldiers were killed in the first six days of June, double the number killed over the same period in June 2006. The Bush Administration has announced that the current troop buildup in and around Baghdad will result in increased rates of American casualties throughout the summer. As of June 10, 3,508 Americans have lost their lives in Iraq. The figure does not include the 917 Americans who have been killed while working as private military contractors in Iraq.
“All occupation forces should leave Iraq immediately,” said Marie Braun, of the Iraq Peace Action Coalition. “We will continue pressuring Congress and organizing demonstrations until the occupation ends and the troops come home.”
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