A Day on the Streets in Albuquerque

From guest blogger Terry Riley:

A day on the street!

The battle is over. No blood was let. No shots fired. No fists bruised. Where could this be you say?  It was on the streets of Albuquerque at noon. A showdown between a sign carrying street demonstrator and three soldiers in uniform. I bet your picture of this is a bit scary. Mine is, and I was there, and I wasn't one of the ones in uniform.

I was standing on the corner of a busy intersection holding my sign high. The top of the sign read, "Heather independent?  Bush says she is loyal!" This is followed by a photo taken at a fundraiser in Albuquerque where the Wilson campaign netted approximately $375,000. The photo shows Wilson looking at President Bush in a devoted look, almost loving. This is followed by two more messages, "Wilson supports corporations!" and "Madrid supports New Mexico!" In the traffic somebody yelled out, "Traitor! You stupid SOB! etc."

As the car rounded the corner I noticed three soldiers in uniform and they were still yelling. I hoped that they would keep driving, I feared that they were too angry to deal with. I looked up and they came, dodging cars, crossing eight lanes of traffic. This did not look good. They came up to me and began yelling in my face, all three at once. As they ran out of steam one of them finished with the
oft repeated line, "I fought over there so you could be free to do this."  He said something else, I don't remember exactly, I think it was possibly that he hated me for what I was saying.

I spoke up and though they interrupted a little, they allowed me to finish. I said, "Nothing about your service affects my being on the street or my feeling of my right to do what I am doing or to say what I am saying. My right to be here comes because my father served in the occupation of Germany, I served during Vietnam, my brother served during Vietnam, my older son served during Gulf I and my younger son served in Afghanistan. I thank you for your service but I earned ALL of my rights!"

Two of the soldiers immediately extended their hands and thanked me for my service. One of the soldiers said that when we stand with signs that say things against the war that they are hurt because they are at great risk doing what they do. I pointed out that my sign said nothing about the war but that when I do carry signs against the war I also always state, "Pro-Soldier, Anti-War." They weren't ready for that. I believe that they will look more carefully at signs that demonstrators carry from now on.

We spoke for about fifteen minutes. They were in full support of the Bush administration and their policies, including Congresswoman Wilson. I pointed out many of the lies that have gotten us here, lies that they did not try to argue with me on. They tried that old, "We have to stop them over there before they come over here." I asked if they knew that none of the hijackers were from Iraq OR Afghanistan. I pointed out that they were from Saudi Arabia and Egypt. They were surprised by that. They challenged me that Improvised Explosion Devices (IED) are terrible and dirty fighting (not their words). I asked if they knew how many IEDs were constructed from American explosive devices. One was very aware, he had served in Iraq.

They talked about the future of Iraq if we pull out. I pointed out that we are going to leave Iraq eventually and that we will not be able to "fix" their government no matter what. We need to get out as soon as possible so we will no longer be responsible for keeping Iraq in a mess. We agreed that what is happening is a mess and that when we do leave it will become a bigger mess, but it will be their mess. I suggested that when we are not there, the people of Iraq will take control of their country and develop a government of their liking and they will go about their lives. They do not have the time to come over here, we have leveled their homes, shut off their economy, their water and sewer, etc. Their families are not safe and they have no prospect of jobs. With us gone they can get to work fixing what they want fixed, not what Bush wants fixed.

Two of the soldiers seriously seemed to come around. The third appeared to have never considered these thoughts and had a long way to go yet. I really enjoyed that encounter. I believe that two of those soldiers are on the first level of being friends. I am happy for that. There are many many people who are unaware of the truth as these soldiers were unaware. We have to stand up and speak out daily so that when the next election takes place there are enough people who have heard the truth.  We know that the TV (news?) and talk radio (news?)  do not give balanced perspectives. Please come and stand with me to bring these stupid military adventures to a close and to bring Democrats into Washington. 

Guest blog by Terry Riley, who can be contacted at terryactivist@aol.com.

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