Coalition marches for peaceful
alternatives
 By
Heather Mangold
City Editor
Purdue students, staff and members of the community
held signs saying "Peace" and "Justice not Vengeance" on Friday as the
Lafayette Area Peace Coalition held a vigil to promote alternatives
to war.
On the corner of Tapawingo Drive and State Street,
the coalition held the first of a series of vigils that will be held
every Friday from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. The vigils will continue until
the group is satisfied with actions taken by the United States government
to punish those responsible for the attacks on Sept. 11. Their aim is
to educate drivers and pedestrians about alternatives based on anti-war
ideas.
Berenice Carroll, a member of the coalition said,
"We are opposed to the current policies (of the U.S. military), and
we want the public to know that. We want to get our ideas out and that
is very difficult to do without taking action."
Promoting peace can be difficult because others
often undermine it, said Carroll.
Carroll said she felt as though citizens promoting
peace were in competition with the media because when she listened to
the radio last week, someone called National Public Radio and asked
about anti-war alternatives. The announcer told the caller that there
were none.
"I'm sorry, but there are some," said Carroll.
"The media keeps saying there aren't, but there are."
Carroll said the coalition is not alone; it joins
organizations across the country as they promote peace and oppose U.S.
government's decision to launch air and ground attacks.
The coalition does not believe that bombing the
people who did not cause the attacks of Sept. 11 would improve the situation
in any way.
"(Bombing Afghanistan) will only strengthen their
resolve not to turn over bin Laden," said Carroll. "Whether he did it
or not, this has already driven many to flee and has disrupted the economic
and social political life of the country to such a degree that even
those who aren't actually bombed or injured are suffering in many very
serious ways."
Harry Targ, a professor of political science, is
also a member of the coalition and said he is in agreement that the
U.S. government is not taking appropriate action.
"I've been a critic of the Bush policy in general,"
said Targ. "Large scale air war has been a disaster."
Targ said that he believes large-scale air war
is designed to try to traumatize the Afghanistan population so they
would withdraw their support from the Taliban regime and an alternative
government could gain control. He said it is not the United States'
place to assume this responsibility.
"It's dangerous for the U.S. to try to establish
a government in another country," said Targ.
Targ said the Northern Alliance could move into
Afghanistan in place of the Taliban. The alliance was in place in the
early 1990s and took on the roles of dictators and oppressors of women,
said Targ.
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