Des Moines Activists Send Anti-War Message to President Obama

(L-r) Eloise Cranke, Matt Green, Brianne Boylan, Ed Bloomer, Dixie Webb, and Wendy Vasquez vigil at Nollen Plaza in Des Moines on Sept. 3. Photo M. Gillespie

Iowa peace and social justice activists who continued their weekly anti-war vigil at Nollen Plaza in Des Moines had a message for President Obama on Sept. 3.

“I would advise President Obama to get our troops out of Afghanistan as soon as possible,” said Eloise Cranke of Des Moines.

“I think it’s leading us down a road that is very similar to what happened in Iraq, and I don’t think there’s any way it can have a positive outcome if Obama continues the troop build-up,” she added.

Cranke said military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq take away money that is desperately needed here at home for health, education, and human services. A Methodist Federation for Social Action coordinator and Catholic Peace Ministry Bishop Dingman Award honoree (2007), Cranke said Americans need to be more aware of the political power and influence of defense industry corporations that profit from war.

“We should be investing in more of the things we heard Obama talk about during the campaign [such as] environmental jobs....People are desperate for jobs and they’re going to take jobs where they can find them. There have to be some jobs that have more human value than building weapons of war,” said Cranke.

Ed Bloomer, a Des Moines Catholic Worker and member of Veterans for Peace, advised President Obama to “drop bread instead of bombs in Afghanistan.”

“Withdraw the troops and work on reconstruction of the cities and in the countryside,” he urged. “I think peace is the answer, and I’d like to see our boys and girls come back home.”

Dixie Webb of Ankeny, one of five Iowa activists a jury found not guilty of trespassing in the Des Moines office of Republican U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley in 2007, also advised President Obama to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan.

“I think we should get out of Afghanistan and quit killing people over there,” she said.

In Webb’s opinion, the Obama administration would do better to support the construction of schools and water resource projects in Afghanistan.

“The military can’t do that. We need to empower the people of Afghanistan to rebuild their country,” said Webb.

“I don’t understand why we think the war in Afghanistan is any more just than the war in Iraq,” said Brianne Boylan, a Des Moines Catholic Worker intern.

“I support strong diplomacy. I think it’s great that [President Obama] had a Ramadan celebration to encourage better relations with people around the world of different religions. And some things take time,” she acknowledged.

Noting Afghanistan’s troubled history, Boylan said U.S. support for and arming of militants during the Soviet Union’s occupation, and the subsequent withdrawal of U.S. support and economic aid, had contributed to that history.

“I don’t think we have an answer to Afghanistan’s problems at this point,” she said. “Until we’re pretty sure we have an answer, I don’t think killing more people is going to do any good.”

Efforts on behalf of health care insurance reform have occupied substantial amounts of time and energy among U.S. peace and social justice organizations and activists in recent months. Moreover, with a Democratic president in the White House, some who were more vocal and active in their opposition to U.S. military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan during the Bush/Cheney administration have muted their criticism of Obama’s decision to widen the war in Afghanistan.

Nevertheless, the Iowa activists who gather in Nollen Plaza each Thursday during the noon hour deliver an anti-war message that is clear and unambiguous. The vigil began in 2003 and continues, now in its seventh year.

—Michael Gillespie