Peace Action Coalition protests war in Iraq at Sodrel's Bloomington office office

In stifling summer heat, more than two dozen people marched south on Walnut Street, June 21. The crowd, literally of all ages -- from children just barely of school age, to the elderly being guided by friends -- formed an unlikely parade of signs and banners, all of them calling for one goal: the immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq.\n"No more dead Iraqis! No more war!" came the shouts, amplified by a megaphone held by Bloomington Peace Action Coalition Organizer Timothy Baer.\nSince 2002, before the invasion of Iraq, the group has held protests on the square -- but Wednesday was different. Instead of sticking to the square, the mass of people yearning for peace took their case to the Bloomington office of Rep. Mike Sodrel, R-9th District.\n"If Sodrel and others support the troops, they will bring them home," Baer told the crowd gathered outside the congressman's office.\nSodrel was among the Republican members of the House who, earlier this month, voted for a resolution to continue the mission in Iraq without setting a timetable for troop withdrawal.\nBaer said that when his group met with Sodrel last year, he was not very receptive to their ideas.\n"He said he will continue the administration's policy that the generals on the ground know best. But even some of them say Iraq cannot be won militarily," Baer said.\nCam Savage, a spokesman for Sodrel, said that if the coalition had let the office know when they were going to be there beforehand, someone would have been there to meet them.\nThe Bloomington group has also expressed dissatisfaction with Baron Hill, Sodrel's opponent in November, who voted to authorize President Bush's plan to invade Iraq in 2003.\nStill, following Wednesday's protest, Hill released a statement calling for troop withdrawal soon.\n"This war was unnecessary and a tragic mistake, but criticizing the administration's failed operation in Iraq is not enough," read the statement. "It is now time to commit to a plan that includes clear benchmarks, which, when met, we'll know we're finished and can send our troops home"