About 70 people - including students, community activists and Providence residents - rallied Sunday afternoon at the Beneficent Congregrational Church downtown on Weybosset Street to mark the fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq.
"Change is long past due," said the Rev. Jon Almond of the Mathewson Street United Methodist Church, a message echoed by other speakers at the anti-war rally, organized by Rhode Island Community Coalition for Peace.
The Raging Grannies - a group for "people of a certain age with a progressive political outlook," according to member Nondas Voll - opened the rally by singing anti-war songs to familiar tunes. One song, to the tune of "Frere Jacques," began with the lyrics "Habeas Corpus, Habeas Corpus / Now you're gone, now you're gone." Another, to the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell," began with "Resist that dreadful urge, resist that dreadful urge / Hi Ho King Georgie-O / Resist the urge to surge!"
Almond, the first speaker at the rally, emphasized the need for the United States to change its Iraq policy and discussed the high costs that come with any war. "War is at odds with all that we truly treasure about America," he said.
"We must speak about peace," Almond said, calling for strong leadership and a national dialogue to lead the United States out of the war, "What we need are leaders who will stand up and say no more. No more of this absurdity."
Elliot Colla, associate professor of comparative literature at Brown, spoke at the rally to warn against a war with Iran. He detailed a hypothetical path to war with Iran and the possible consequences of such a war, saying that the lead-up to the war has already begun.
"The threat might still be averted by serious diplomatic efforts, but this is unlikely," Colla said.
Colla also spoke of the dangers of using force to solve international problems. "To apply military solutions to problems is to create new problems where old ones didn't exist before," he said.
The rally featured two speakers from the Rhode Island chapter of Military Families Speak Out. Jacque Amoureux GS, whose brother is an Iraq war veteran, spoke of the need for citizens' pressure on members of Congress to hold them accountable for their votes and positions. "Your voice is actually quite powerful," she told the audience.
Steve Kelly, whose son served in Iraq, spoke about "myths" the public and elected officials believe about the war. Kelly said one of the most ubiquitous of these myths is that a soldier "wants to die for his country."
"A soldier wants to live, he wants to come home - he wants to fight for his country, but he wants to live," he said.
Jeff Toste, a member of the Green Party of Rhode Island, questioned the leadership of the Democratic Party, which has only seriously considered non-binding resolutions against President Bush's proposed "surge" of troops in Iraq since taking control of Congress in November.
"Did the American people vote for a non-binding anti-war Congress?" he asked. "What good is your vote when lip service replaces real leadership?"
Chris Murphy of the International Socialist Organization was the final speaker at the rally. Murphy said "this war (in Iraq) is about imperialism and oil" and that "the war will end when the military refuses to fight."
Murphy also railed against leaders who continue to mislead the country. "It is the tyranny of the minority over the majority," he said.
