Castleton Spartan

Issue date: 3/21/07 Section: News

Peace rally organizers Dianna Bessette (left) and Castleton student Matt Kimball

RUTLAND, VT - As Castleton Junior Matt Kimball stood shivering along the slushy sidewalk of Rutland's Main Street Park on Sunday afternoon, he took a moment to tighten the hood of his black ALL sweatshirt, shielding himself from the frigid blast of a waning Vermont winter.

Pinned to the back of his shirt, with the aide of four precisely placed silver safety pins, was a message many Vermonters were hoping would echo throughout the country:

"Vermont says not one more dollar. Bring the troops home now!"

Kimball joined dozens of Vermonters of all ages in on March 18 as part of a nationwide anti-war demonstration and protest, marking the fourth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The event was organized by members of the Student Peace Alliance of Rutland County (SPARC) and Central Vermont Peace and Justice (CVPJ).

"We are protesting the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq, Afghanistan, and we are trying to prevent war with Iran," Kimball said, clinging to the "Justice or Just Us?" sign in his icy hands.

Kimball is a communication major at CSC and one of the lead organizers of SPARC, a coalition of high school and college students brought together with the goal of educating the youth on issues of peace, justice, and the Iraq war.

"Iraq never attacked us. Preemptive war was exactly what the Nazis stood on trial for after World War II," Kimball said. "Why not preemptive peace? Why war at all anyways?"

Fellow SPARC organizer Dianna Bessette encouraged the youth of the country to stand up and question the policies of President George W. Bush.

"People know his lies. People are starting to know and he better be friggin' scared," Bessette said with distaste in her voice. "He's just a puppet!"

Sanjukta Ghosh, a communication professor at Castleton who helped organize the march, also questioned the current administration's reasoning behind the U.S. led invasion of Iraq.

"If Iraq was the biggest producer of oranges in the world and didn't have the world's second largest reserve of oil, would you [President Bush] have gone there for regime change?" Ghosh asked.

Some demonstrators waved their signs denouncing the war, while others sang anti-war songs to keep their minds from the artic chills sweeping across the state. A giant white dove made from bed sheets and paper-maché towered over the protestors, urging peace to the passersby.

Continued...

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