I am writing in response to Gabe Bradley’s article “You call this a protest?” (ODE, Nov. 22). I was shocked that the Emerald would publish such an article that clearly has little, if any, value.
For someone who describes himself as a “huge fan of the First Amendment,” it seems strange that he would bash those exercising that right, even if he doesn’t agree with it. Bradley’s assertion that the protesters “were a world away from the policy makers” is true, except the “policy makers” used coercion and deceit to get us into this debacle, and they have given up on the public.
What other course of action can be taken? We all know you can’t have a war without boots on the ground, and working to keep young men and women from enlisting is, in fact, a way to stop wars and prevent deaths.
Bradley’s logic is flawed when he asserts that protesting the ROTC building and a recruitment station is the equivalent of protesting the troops. This protest was against the institutions that help carry out wars, institutions that are controlled by the “policy makers” themselves. No doubt the protesters also agree that the solders are brave and choose “the defense of freedom as their profession,” but we should help them in this, not stand idly by as our county fights a war quite to the contrary.
As a side note, a vast number of those in our armed services are in Iraq right now as a result of things such as unemployment, money for school, traveling the world, escaping from a home town, supporting a family and many other reasons. Many join to better their lives, not because they are supportive of the war in Iraq, but as a means to an end as listed above.
I like Bradley’s use of the civil rights movement as a measuring stick for this protest; he seems to forget that on the first day of the movement there were not millions, or even thousands in the streets.
The civil rights movement, like almost all others, started with a few who had a vision for all. Bradley himself goes on to belittle those who are fighting by arguing that the civil rights movement was trying to preserve “God-given dignity,” and an anti-war protest does not reach this level. If he truly believes that life and death are such non-issues, I would ask him to re-examine his thinking and maybe stop by the recruitment office tomorrow and catch the earliest plane to Iraq. But this won’t happen, even though he has a great fondness for the First Amendment. He will refuse to take a side, by either signing up to go to Iraq, or protesting the fact that we were conned into going. It seems to me the only joke is his article.

Benjamin McKechnie is a political science major at the University and served six years in the Oregon Air National Guard.