story by Emma Willibey, video by Cecilia Butler
Activist Barbara Vanderberg thrusts a “Don’t Bomb Syria” sign into the air, hunched against the October chill at 63rd Street and Ward Parkway Boulevard. At 5:30 p.m. “announcements,” Vanderberg distributes flyers for a politically-charged concert and nuclear watch speech in Independence, Mo. According to activist Mike Murphy, the group has congregated each Tuesday for 10 years.
“We first started [protesting] in February of 2003,” Murphy said. “We haven’t had a good reason to leave.”
The group banded before the Iraq War, hoping to discourage conflict before it erupted. Murphy said activist Roger Goldblatt organized the protests, but citizens nationwide shared Goldblatt’s sentiments.
“People not just [in Kansas City] but all around the country and all around the world took to the streets in huge, huge numbers [before the Iraq War],” Murphy said.
While antiwar groups PeaceWorks KC and the Kansas City Iraq Task Force assembled, Murphy said the rallies occurred each Sunday. When Goldblatt said an after-work time slot would reach commuters, his partners met at Arno Road and Ward Parkway Boulevard before finding their current intersection. Although peers left the streets, Goldblatt’s group tells drivers its beliefs.
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The USA empowers its enemies
The USA’s Iraq invasion remains central to the protesters’ cause. According to activist Terry Bunker, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was a 1960s CIA agent, and the USA lent weapons Hussein fired against his country.
“[Hussein] was a monster, but he was a Frankenstein of our own creation,” Bunker said. “[The USA] knew Saddam was bad but supported him anyway.”
While Hussein’s alleged weapons of mass destruction prompted the USA’s invasion, Bunker said the USA also associated Hussein with 9/11 perpetrators al-Qaeda.
“Prior to invading and attacking Iraq, we knew Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks,” Bunker said. “Al-Qaeda was a brainchild of Osama bin Laden. Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein were mortal enemies.”
Bunker said Saudi Arabia marked 9/11’s origins, but President George Bush feared damaging his relationship with Saudi Arabia’s rulers. When the USA targeted Iraq, battle culminated in Hussein’s 2006 execution.
“We put [criminals] in power, then when they’re not controllable, it’s bad for us,” Bunker said.
Changing the president’s political party does not solve issues
The protesters witnessed Bush’s Republican presidency shift to President Barack Obama’s democracy, but Bunker said the USA remains corrupted.
“Obama’s a war criminal,” Bunker said. “I give Obama credit for one thing: he had the courage to put these wars on the federal budget.”
However, current issues cannot distract Bunker from avenging Bush’s Iraq and Afghanistan forays.
“[The Bush administration] should be tried as war criminals just as we did with the Nazi criminals after World War II,” Bunker said. “[The administration] should at least be sentenced to life in prison. When someone knows they’re guilty, forcing them to think about what they’ve done [is worse than execution].”
War diseases impair future generations
Soldiers 40 miles behind front lines can inhale USA-approved substance depleted uranium, Bunker said. Despite its mild name, the material can penetrate tanks.
“[Depleted uranium is] depleted only in the sense that it’s not radioactive enough to sustain a nuclear reaction,” Bunker said. “[The substance is] still highly radioactive.”
According to Bunker, depleted uranium gathers in the reproductive organs. When soldiers’ wives receive the substance, they can inherit cervical cancers and produce deformed kids.
“[Depleted uranium] has no visible effects on soldiers, but their children have defects like no limbs,” Bunker said.
People should seek correct political information
According to Bunker, people must find sources outside “Fox ‘so-called’ News” to inform their views.
“Rather than watching your sitcom or favorite TV show, people should educate themselves,” Bunker said.
Bunker said mainstream news agents’ incomplete reports inspire the Tuesday protests.
“I see [the rallies] as a public educational project,” Bunker said.
The group once brought a “democracynow.org” sign to advocate radio station KKFI 90.1 FM’s program “Democracy Now!” Bunker said anchor Amy Goodman could influence drivers toward new stances on war.
“People look at a sign and they might just reject it [or] discount it, but at least I’ve got them to think about [the issues],” Bunker said.
