Wednesday, October 16, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Protesters share views why policy against Iraq wrong

Reasons include anti-violence, economic costs

As former President Bush spoke inside the MGM Grand, about 30 people gathered Tuesday morning outside the Strip resort to demonstrate against his son's policy on Iraq.

Carrying placards with phrases such as "No More Blood for Oil" and "Jobs, Not War," the protesters chanted and briefly marched up the Strip during a demonstration that police described as calm.

The 3 1/2-hour protest at times seemed to be more sedate than those involved would have liked.

With the light turnout, anti-war chants such as "No attack on Iraq" fizzled shortly after they were started.

When the protesters joined their voices together to sing John Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance," they quickly abandoned the tune after being drowned out by a Frank Sinatra standard blasting from the MGM Grand's speakers.

Despite the setbacks, the protesters, ranging in age from their 20s to early 60s, shared their different reasons for rallying against the war.

Alice Lillie said invading Iraq would provoke violence in other areas abroad and terrorism in the United States.

"(Iraq is) going to start attacking Israel, and then you have more bloodshed," said Lillie, 62. "It's a toll on innocent lives. If there are more al-Qaida cells in the U.S., which there are, what do you think they're going to do when we launch an attack on Iraq? They're going to start killing people here."

Rick Hooper, a self-described hippie and "ageless dissident," said he thinks several problems in the United States need to be addressed before trying to solve crises across the globe.

"We don't need this," Hooper said. "We should've never been there in the first place 10 years ago."

He said those not opposed to the war for political or philosophical reasons should be against it because of the possible financial implications.

"We know this is going to destroy the economy," he said.

Joe Cartino said he believed the Bush administration was beating war drums without regard for how Americans feel.

"We don't have any say in this democracy anymore," the 33-year-old graphic artist said. "The guy making the decision in the White House wasn't even elected by a majority of voters. He doesn't represent my views."

Cartino spent $5 Tuesday printing up anti-war fliers to hand out.

But for most of the demonstration, he was waving a canvas painted with an upside-down 6-foot American flag with the words "End Imperialism" emblazoned across the stripes on one side and "War Inc." on the other.

Cartino, who created the banner, was awarded a $500 grant from Nevada Arts Council earlier this year to develop his portfolio.

Also protesting the war were a pair of Raelians, members of a religious group that believes humans originated from aliens and that cloning humans is the key to eternal life.

They said they were demonstrating against an invasion of Iraq because they believe extraterrestrial beings will be unwilling to revisit the planet until peace exists on Earth.

The demonstration drew occasional jeers from passersby, with one woman shouting "shame" at the protesters. Another shouted "Saddam Hussein is a murderer."

Marcus Singleton, 21, gave the protesters an emphatic thumbs-down as he strolled by them.

"We are going to Iraq to end violence," said Singleton, a RadioShack employee in town for a company convention at New York-New York. "I really don't know why they're out here. It's disrespect to our country."

Authorities made no arrests made during the protest.

Lt. Charles Hank, one of four Las Vegas police officers who monitored the protesters, described them as "calm and well-behaved."