One year of protests

Nearly one year ago, campus was filled with signs, flyers and voices of protesters opposed to a then-possible war in Iraq.\nSince then, a U.S.-led coalition waged a war in Iraq, 550 soldiers have died, and major combat operations have been declared over -- though conflict has yet to cease.\nWith the upcoming one-year anniversary of the U.S. invasion, more protests are beginning to come together.\nThe United for Peace and Justice organization is sponsoring the Global Day of Action against War and Occupation. According to the organization's Web site, "On that day, millions around the globe will take to the streets to say yes to peace and no to pre-emptive war and occupation."\nThe protests are set to call for an end to the occupation in Iraq and speak out against the Bush administration's foreign policy. \nLauren Taylor, an IU senior and member of the former campus group Coalition to Oppose the War in Iraq, said there will undoubtedly be protesters in Bloomington.\n"There were protests against the war on Monday, Martin Luther King Day," she said. Taylor added there are still weekly meetings to promote peace held on Wednesdays at the Bloomington square. \nCOWI, the organization so vehemently involved in protesting the beginning of the war, is no longer active. \n"When school ended last semester, the coalition stopped meeting because most people left for the summer," Taylor explained. "In my opinion, a lot has to do with people wanting to get involved with the anti-war movement to keep the war from starting. Since it has started, there is still interest, but a lot of the interest has been redirected in different direction for people."\nShe said former members of the coalition are now more involved in various other political movements, such as the 2004 election.\nShe said other protesters are also involved in more localized issues, independent media and the Bloomington Peace Action coalition -- another group within the Bloomington community still active in protesting the war.\nTaylor said her stance on the war hasn't changed much over the past year.\n"I thought about whether I would advocate ending occupation immediately. I wasn't sure it would be most responsible thing to do -- to pull out immediately without helping to make sure the transition was smooth.\n"At this point, I don't think it is helping the people of Iraq for us to be staying. The level of resentment is growing, and we're not doing what we need to be doing."\nSophomore Christen Hong agrees with Taylor. \n"I'm still against it (the war)," she said. "We got Saddam, which is good, but the war wasn't for Saddam. So many people have died because we went there."\nHong said she is unsure whether she will protest the war again in March but she is active in other areas, such as the presidential campaign.\n"I don't know that I would protest again. I went to New York last year for the big protest," she said. "It's less of an emphasis in my life now that it's happened already."\nThe March 20 protest will be the first time the world will take their opinions to the streets since Feb. 15, 2003, when over 10 million protesters worldwide "expressed their opposition to Bush's looming war on Iraq."\n-- Contact assistant copy chief Brittany Hite at bhite@indiana.edu.