STAFF EDITORIAL: The Value of Protest

By the end of the week, Congress will vote on, and almost certainly approve, legislation authorizing President Bush to use military force in Iraq. Opposing voices must make themselves heard. In the first two installments in this series, Spectator outlined the case against war. In this, the third and final editorial, Spectator calls for all Americans, and Columbia students in particular, to actively oppose war in Iraq.
As students on a politically charged campus, it may seem like the debate over Iraq, particularly the anti-war side, is alive and well, but that is not the case nationally. Many citizens lack specific information about the government's policy towards Saddam Hussein and do not see an actual war, with casualties and long battles, as a potential reality. Resolutions currently in both houses of Congress and the President's stern speech from Cincinnati on Monday night should prove that the possibility of war is real. Americans cannot afford to sit idly by without opposing a war that will be fought on questionable grounds.
Discussion and opposition can take many forms. Conversations with friends and family are a good starting point. Letters to newspapers and magazines will also publicize opposition to the war. Protests, whether they are large and receive national attention, such as the Not in Our Name rally that took place in Central Park on Sunday, or small and campus-organized like Saturday's "die-in" at the sundial, are another visible way to send a message. In order for protests to be taken seriously, however, they must be focused and accessible. Too often, marches and demonstrations conflate their stated objective with other issues. Anti-war protests must be accessible to all interested participants and focused solely on the issue at hand: opposing war in Iraq. Contacting members of the government, from local House representatives to the President himself, to express opposition to war will let the people who will ultimately decide the fate of war know that their constituents do not favor an attack on Iraq.
Students, in particular, have a powerful voice in shaping the national debate. Elected officials and armchair political enthusiasts alike look to college campuses as the forefront of political debate in the United States. Columbia has a long and storied history of political activism and has often been an example to students on other campuses. That tradition should continue today: Columbia students must lead the way in critical, thoughtful opposition to war.
As the United States nears one of the most important decisions in its recent history, dissenters cannot afford to remain silent. Anti-war sentiments must be heard. Those who think they will not be affected by a war on another continent will find themselves mistaken; as citizens of this nation, we all feel the consequences of the government's actions. Americans must not wait until war is underway to speak out and oppose it.