2008/07/31:Peace walk from Chicago to Minneapolis makes several local stops this weekend -

Peace walk from Chicago to Minneapolis makes several local stops this weekend
By Brian D. Bridgeford, Capital Newspapers | Posted: Thursday, July 31, 2008 9:30 pm
Portage Daily Register

The core Witness Against War walkers address the audience. Photo by Hiroshi Kanno

A group of Iraq war opponents walking from Chicago to Minneapolis will share a dinner and discussion of the issues with Portage-area residents during a visit Sunday evening.

The walkers will be at Trinity United Church of Christ, 503 Prospect Ave. in Portage, at 6 p.m. Sunday for a dinner and talk about their efforts.

Local residents supporting Witness Against War's visit include the group Progressive Voices of Columbia County and a number of local anti-war activists, said Hiroshi Kanno, a rural Wisconsin Dells resident helping sponsor the event.

The walk itself is organized by the Chicago-based group Voices for Creative Nonviolence. It ends Sept. 1 in Minneapolis at the Republican National Convention.

"It's kind of a coalition of anti-war groups that have been around awhile," Kanno said. "We view this as an opportunity to re-engage and stimulate some of the discussion about the war."

Event supporters generally feel the country should end the war and bring American troops back home, Kanno said. There are a variety of opinions on whether this should be done immediately or more gradually, he said.

"The Voices group, the walkers, want immediate withdraw," he said, "some may want a little longer-term transition.

"All of us agree that the war should come to an end and our young men and women shouldn't suffer any more and have any more casualties," Kanno said.

Anti-war activists support the troops, it is the policymakers such as President George W. Bush they are in conflict with for his decision to launch the war, he said.

The walk

The core group making its way from Chicago to Minneapolis is about 10 people, said Kathy Kelly, a nationally known anti-war voice, advocate for nonviolence and co-coordinator for the group Voices for Creative Nonviolence.

As the group passes through different places, supporters join members for a time, she said. In Madison, the walk had been joined by about 40 people.

On Monday, they walked to Gov. Jim Doyle's mansion to deliver a letter encouraging him to support legislation by state Assemblyman Spencer Black, she said. The legislation takes advantage of a "legal loophole" to bring Wisconsin National Guard troops home from Iraq and prevent more from having to go overseas for the war.

"These young people go over to Iraq and some of them are never the same when they come back," she said. "They pay a large price in going over to a war zone and sometimes don't always even get good care when they come back and they need it."

Care for injured troops is one issue the WAW walkers want to move people to think about, Kelly said.

The walkers will also be going over to Fort McCoy near Tomah, where troops are given training before they are deployed to Iraq, Kelly said.

"We've been in touch with the authorities at the base to see how they feel about us entering with a letter and perhaps a desire to have a dialogue with some of the solders on the base," she said of the planned Aug. 10 event.

In 2009, about 3,500 Wisconsin troops are scheduled to pass through Fort McCoy for training before they go to Iraq, she said.

Dissenting view

Baraboo Republican Party supporter and political blogger Lance Burri said he respects the WAW walkers' right to express their views and their significant effort in walking from Chicago to Minneapolis. He will be attending the Republican Party convention as a blogger and said he might see them there.

However, pulling out of Iraq quickly will not benefit the Unites States or the Middle Eastern region, he said.

Burri said he has supported the war early on and believes U.S. troops must be in Iraq and involved in the Middle East for some time.

"Even if you opposed the war from the beginning, even if you wanted us to get out from the day we invaded, you can't deny we have some measure of responsibility for what happens in Iraq right now, and at least in the immediate future," Burri said. "It's too important a region and too dangerous a region for us to just say, ‘hands off.'"

Burri observed that Democratic Party presidential candidate Barack Obama has changed his policy position. Obama is saying the decision to withdraw U.S. troops must be based on stable conditions in Iraq, he said.

"Neither presidential candidate is saying just get out," Burri said. "Simply demanding withdrawal, either immediately or on a pre-determined timeline is just not a responsible way to handle that."

It's unfortunate and tragic, but sometimes the "way of the world" is that soldiers and civilians die in necessary wars, Burri added.

‘War of choice'

Kelly referred to the Iraq War as a "war of choice," because that nation had not attacked the United States and was not a direct threat when troops invaded it. Most of the deaths and injuries have been suffered by Iraqis, often children, who have been killed in the war sparked in an effort to ensure control of energy resources by the Bush administration, she said.

"I often say, if Iraq grew asparagus, do you think it would be a discussion right now between you, me or anyone?" she said. "It's a stunning punishment that's been inflicted on them, brutal and sometimes lethally punitive."

The walkers' trip has been inspiring a lot of discussion about the war issue among grassroots groups, Kanno said. WAW walkers also will be holding events in Baraboo, Sauk City and Reedsburg before they leave the area.