Police removed more than 20 protesters from a speech Maj. Gen. Michael J. Diamond gave Wednesday about the wars in the Middle East.
Diamond, the deputy director of logistics from U.S. Central Command, focused on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in his presentation at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.
The speech began as planned, but the protesters entered the auditorium and began rapidly shooting questions at Diamond.
Edward Goetz, associate dean of academics at the Humphrey Institute, warned protesters they may be escorted out if they did not allow the speaker to proceed.
He said there would be time for questions at the end of the presentation, but the protesters continued to interrupt Diamond.
About five minutes into the discussion, Goetz directed University police to escort protesters out of the auditorium, an act that received applause from the 75-member audience.
The protesters chanted, "Out of Afghanistan, out of Iraq, out of the 'U' and don't come back," as they were ushered out.
Before the speech, about 50 protesters from the student group Anti-War Organizing League and a community group called the Anti-War Committee gathered outside the building and called the war in Iraq "racist" and said it needed to end.
Tracy Molm, women's studies senior and protest organizer, said AWOL was there to voice opposition to the war.
"We're here to stand up against the war in Iraq," she said.
The above, noted by Kim, is from Charles Bruce's "Police remove protesters from speech on Iraq" (The Minnesota Daily). At least fifty, possibly seventy if the twenty inside weren't also outside, do you think maybe the desk jockeys can shut up already about student protest today?
For the desk jockeys who visit campuses in scheduled events with scheduled topics, they might also want to grasp that they have no credibility with students against the war on the issue of the war. They can jaw bone about how the crowd, for instance, seemed more concerned with issues about a living wage than about the illegal war, but the reality is people skip to their "boring" events because their publication treats students in a dismissive and mocking manner and because their publication can't seem to cover Iraq. Don't speak to their issues, portray them in a laughable manner, they don't tend to turn out for your events.
Dona and I are speaking to groups again today, and thus far, in three states, there hasn't been a group of students (high school or college) that hasn't brought up the above.
CNN reports:
As many as 2,200 more Marines are being deployed to Iraq's volatile Anbar province, U.S. Central Command officials told CNN Thursday.
The Marines -- from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit based at Camp Pendleton, California -- have been offshore on ships.
From Lousie Roug's "Iraqi Cabinet will meet to resolve divisions in wake of kidnapping" (LA Times):
Iraq's prime minister will convene the Cabinet next week to resolve the deepening political divisions after a mass kidnapping at government offices in Baghdad, a member of his coalition said today.Sunni Arab and Shiite Muslim politicians have exchanged bitter accusations since the mass kidnapping of government employees this week. Sunni politicians threatened a walkout today, saying the Shiite-led government had tried to minimize the scope of the kidnapping and had done little to rescue as many as 70 academics and visitors still missing.
So when Evita/Juan returns to Iraq, they might attempt address something? That's it for this morning. The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
Ava note: Post corrected per C.I. Democracy Now! today is supposed to feature Alice Walker and Isabel Allende. And what Dona and C.I. are observing is a planned topic for The Third Estate Sunday Review this weekend.
isabelle allende
alice walker
democracy now