In a perfect world, Xuan Ngoc Nguyen’s husband would have stood next to her as she rallied against war in Iraq.
But he died 30 years ago in the Vietnam War — a 19-year-old U.S. soldier caught in a battle he never wanted
to fight.
Nguyen, holding a picture of her husband, was one of several hundred people who gathered Saturday at the Eugene Federal Building to listen
to anti-war speakers and make a statement against another war in the
Middle East.
“Sept. 11 was one time, one place,” Nguyen said. “In Vietnam, 30 years later, we’re still looking at the sky for the B-52 bombers.
“We don’t belong in war.”
Saturday, the group at the Federal Building echoed Nguyen’s sentiments in a rally, called “Not in Our Name,” sponsored by a coalition of community groups including Progressive Responses and Faith in Action. Bearing signs with anti-war statements — such as “Attack Iraq: Are You On Crack?” and “Don’t Kill for the Oligarchy” — the participants crowded together and lined the surrounding sidewalks as cars honked again and again in support.
And despite blocked traffic on East Eighth Avenue afterward, the rally was peaceful.
Speakers such as Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Eugene, Ward 3 Eugene City Councilor David Kelly and two veterans of the Vietnam War encouraged the crowd to put pressure on Congress, which will vote soon on a resolution to invade Iraq.
DeFazio, who compared a preemptive attack on Iraq to the movie “Minority Report,” said Bush has been determined to invade Iraq since “day one.”
The proposed resolution “is a total blank check of indefinite and unlimited authority of power to wage war against Iraq,” he said.
“War should be the last resort, not the first resort.”
Ed Reiman, Vietnam veteran and Eugene resident, said people should fight for their beliefs, even if they are considered un-American.
“It’s not unpatriotic to see the truth, and it’s not unpatriotic to shout about it when you see it,” he said.
Reiman also had plenty of mud to sling at Republicans, specifically Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., who Reiman accused of trying to quell criticism of Bush and the war.
“Trent, you two-bit, draft-dodging, pretty-boy — you sit down and you shut up,” he said.
Several booths were set up around the perimeter of the courtyard as people gave away fliers and buttons and gathered support.
“We feel the (Bush) administration is ignoring and trampling on
international law as a way to solve international conflict,” said Esther Jacobson, a Progressive Responses member who was staffing the booth.
“We don’t like the way we are rushing into war,” she said.
Some people said they still supported the U.S. military, however.
Bruce Watson, a self-employed Eugene resident, stood at the corner of the courtyard and quietly displayed his sign “Rush is Right.”
“Without the U.S. military, there would be no peace movement,”
he said.
To the participants of the rally, Watson had strong words, displaying another sign that said: “You’ll defend tree huggers, alternate life- styles and suckerfish, but you won’t defend the country that protects your rights — shame on you.”