25 Reno anti-war activists criticize Bush on inaugural eve

RENO - Two dozen Nevadans rallied Wednesday night at a chilly peace vigil in Reno led by anti-war activists who criticized the war in Iraq and President Bush's reasons for being there.

Clutching candles and coffee in 29-degree weather, the protesters sang "God Bless America" on the steps of the federal courthouse and read from past presidents' inaugural addresses.

"If John Kerry won, we would still be here tonight," said Steve Gifford, a leader of the Reno Anti-War Coalition who helped organize the "pre-inaugural" event.

"We are the global peace movement, right here. Look around," said Chris Good of Reno.

"In President Bush's second term, the peace movement cannot relent. We must keep pressure on this administration," he said.

Jim Griffiths of Reno, who attended the vigil and said he served in Vietnam in 1970-71, said war is sometimes necessary, but not in this case in Iraq.

"I was in Vietnam and never understood why we were there. I came back and I still don't understand why we were there," Griffiths said.

"I understand why we are in Iraq. It's about money," he said.

"And oil," another protester shouted.

Lisa Stiller, who said her son is in the U.S. military based in South Korea and may soon be headed for Iraq, read from a statement that urged an end of the U.S. occupation of Iraq, bringing home U.S. troops and "taking care of them when they come home."

Micki Lewis of Reno attended with her 7-month-old son, Bodie, on her back.

"I'm not too happy about the election. We just have to meditate and pray that good things happen," she said.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., who has an office in the courthouse building, issued a statement Wednesday supportive of Bush's policy in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"We all want peace in the Middle East and around the world. However, as long as terrorists continue to work to undermine liberty and freedom, peace is unfortunately unattainable," said Gibbons, a former combat pilot who served in both the Vietnam and Persian Gulf wars.

"Under President Bush's leadership, we successfully defeated an oppressive regime in Afghanistan that supported terrorism and we removed Saddam Hussein, a brutal tyrant who also supported terrorism. The people of Afghanistan and Iraq are now free and working towards creating a sustainable democracy. And the people of America are safer," he said.

Gibbons said American troops still serve as security forces in Korea and in Bosnia - "years, even decades, after major combat had ended."

"We simply cannot pull out before the nation is able to sustain itself," he said. "We need to remain committed to fighting terrorism... and we are fighting this battle abroad so that we don't have to fight it on our shores."

Gifford said the idea of fighting abroad to avoid war at home "is a tired, old cliche."

"They said the same thing about Vietnam, but after we left Vietnam, did any Vietnamese come over here to fight the United States? No," he said.

"They don't want to fight us. They want to be left alone," he said.

Gifford read from Theodore Roosevelt's 1905 inaugural address:

"Toward all other nations, large and small, our attitude must be one of cordial and sincere friendship. We must show not only in our words, but in our deeds, that we are earnestly desirous of securing their good will by acting toward them in a spirit of just and generous recognition of all their rights."

Good read from Dwight D. Eisenhower's farewell address upon leaving the presidency in 1960, when the Republican general criticized the "military industrial complex."

"We should reflect on how over the last 40 years the military-industrial complex has created the need to go to war," Good said.

Eisenhower's speech said, in part:

"Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now ... we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. ... We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations. ... The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."

Gifford also singled out Eisenhower, saying the U.S. presidents who have had the most to say about peace and prosperity have been military men.

"It was one of our greatest generals who spoke of being wary of the forces of war and the war machine," he said.