War protest sparks debate across campus

By CHRISTINE GALT
Assistant News Editor

Debate was sparked on the Creighton campus when a sea of white signs were placed along the mall Monday. The signs was meant to inform the Creighton community of the loss of life as a result the war in Iraq.

Organizers said each sign represented 811 human lives: 655,000 Iraqis and 3,000 Americans, equaling a total of 685,000.

“The question ‘why have 685,000 people died?’ is the message,” said Arts & Sciences junior Erik Jensen. “I don’t have the answer. Our goal was to get people to realize the magnitude of war in hopes that the next time the question of whether or not we invade arises, we might think twice and avoid catastrophe.”

The Veterans Day protest was organized by a small group of Creighton students. In addition to the visual display, the students also sent an e-mail of intention to various list serves to raise awareness of their message.

“This is not just an anti-campaign,” said Arts & Sciences senior James Anderson. “We want something that will offer a constructive solution. We would like to see this culminate into an open dialogue, debate or forum put on by Creighton.”

The protest has spurred dialogue on campus, especially about the campaign’s statistics. The number of deaths was taken from an article in The Lancet, “a reformist medical newspaper.” The article included a survey that compared the mortality in Iraq during the period of 14.6 months before the invasion with that of 17.8 months after the invasion. One student took offense to both the message and the statistics used in the protest.

“I have many good friends who have served in various theatres of operation, including southwest Asia, and I find this ‘protest’ insulting to them and those who have died for their country,” said Arts & Sciences junior Paul Johnson. “The whole protest was based off the Lancet report ... this was not a scientific poll, and it made no distinctions between those killed by Americans, those killed by insurgents, those who are insurgents and those who died of natural causes.”

Though the statistic has been debated, some are focusing on the poignant aspects.

“I was grateful to the students for taking the initiative to raise the issue,” said Dr. Roger Bergman, director of Justice and Peace Studies program. “Although the students clearly put a lot of thought into their letter and the display of the flags, I wish they had used a more conservative estimate of the loss of lives in Iraq ... I hope that doesn’t distract anyone from the issue of the war itself. ”

The group most outspoken against the campaign has been the College Republicans. According to president Brandon Kenig, Business junior, the official response has been that the protest was distasteful because of its proximity to Veterans Day and that the statistics the protesters used were suspect and misleading.

“None of the people involved in the protest have any sort of military training or education,” Johnson, a member of the Republicans, said. “They know nothing about war except for what they debate about in philosophy class.”

Though the protest has fallen under scrutiny, the students have achieved their overall goal, which has been discussion and debate.

“I think that we have fallen asleep, and a lot has happened in the meantime,” said MAGIS director Molly Davies. “Whether you agreed with going to war in Iraq or not, ceasing to evaluate the effects of the war, both physically and in its unconscionable toll in lives lost, is sinful. I felt comforted by this outward showing of love for our sisters and brothers in the military and in Iraq.”