The Daily Tarheel

Issue date: 2/22/08 Section: University

Media Credit: DTH/Adam Sherwood Veteran John Heuer burns his mock draft card Thursday at an anti-war rally in the Pit organized by Students for a Democratic Society. Heuer remembers when he burned his real draft card in the 1960s.

Senior Charlie Soeder timidly approached the "UNC Draft Board" table at noon Thursday.

"You sir, will you sign up for the U.S. Army?" said Tamara Tal, a toxicology doctoral student, wearing a tie, vest and a fake mustache.

"Absolutely," Soeder said, throwing his shoulders back, puffing his chest and lifting his chin.

"All right, drop and give me 20," Tal ordered.

So he did.

Protesters with Students for a Democratic Society used these theatrical displays and handouts of fake draft cards to attract students to their anti-war protest.

"We must understand that war is peace. If we want peace, we must have permanent war in Iraq," Clint Johnson, organizer of the event, said through a megaphone to clapping and laughing spectators. "Everyone's being drafted today."

Men ages 18 to 25 must register for the draft - a mandate by the Military Selective Service Act. About 93 percent of men required to register have done so, according to the Selective Service System Web site.

Organizers Thursday set up a fake draft board to satirize the troop surges in Iraq, such as the one in January 2007 when President Bush announced 20,000 more troops would go to Iraq, bringing the total to more than 150,000.

Students stood by Lenoir Dining Hall, holding signs that read "UNC Draft Board" and "Support the Troops in Iraq! Join them Today!"

Lt. Col. Monte Yoder, of UNC's Army ROTC, said it's rarer to find people who speak out publicly in support of current policies. "I think as a nation we're very fortunate to have a voluntary military service."

At Thursday's protest Dahlia Wasfi spoke against the negative impacts of the war on the Iraqi people. She has lived in Iraq before and after the fall of Saddam Hussein.

"Life basically for Iraqis is a living hell," Wasfi said, adding that she wants to ensure that she gives her people a voice - something they didn't have under a dictatorship.

"It's to get the truth out, to get another side and to show the reality that the mainstream media won't show," Wasfi said.

Jason Hurd, who served in Iraq from November 2004 to November 2005, used the opportunity to speak against military procedure in Iraq.

"I saw so many tactics that actually injured Iraqi people," Hurd said. "We're hurting innocent civilians."

Participants then handed out fake draft cards for spectators to burn.

"This war has got to stop, and we've got to stop it," Tal said as students defaced their cards.

Yoder said burning draft cards served as a symbol of protest against U.S. war-time policies in the 1970s.

"It's great that we have a free nation where citizens can protest things that they disagree or agree with," he said.



Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.

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