Local Protesters Retort U.S. Involvment Iraq
FERNDALE (WWJ) -- Iraq's parliament delayed the formation of a new government Monday, despite the threat from extremists who have seized control of a large part of the country.
Meanwhile in Ferndale, about 30 protesters turned out at Woodward and Nine Mile saying they do not want the U.S. involved in Iraq again. Chuck Altman with the Detroit area Peace With Justice Network said that the group has gotten more of a response for its "Hook for Peace" signs that it did 12 years ago.
"There is no military solution," Altman said. "We don't want to see drones, we don't want to see advisers, we don't want to see air strikes, we don't want to see arms sales -- no U.S. troops."
Altman said that with 4,400 or more Americans already dead, the stakes are just too high.
"We're standing here just a few miles from the city of Detroit where people are getting their water shut off because they can't afford to pay a water bill, and yet we've got money to spend in the Middle East for years and years and years with seemingly no end to the money," Altman said.
Kim Redigan believes that even the use of drone can leave soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder.
"They're sitting here in the U.S. and pushing buttons and they're seeing close up what's going on," Redigan said. "So we have the concern for our own citizens, obviously, here as well."
The group said that the cost in dollars and U.S. lives has already been too high.
"War creates more violence, it creates more chaos and it never, never is the solution," Redigan said. "It may bring a short-term cessation to things, but it does not address the systemic issue."
