More than 100 activists crowded the steps of the State Capitol building Saturday afternoon to protest the conflict in Iraq.
Gathering at the King Street entrance, they displayed signs with slogans such as \Nobody Died When Clinton Lied"" and ""Books Not Bombs."" There were also bongo players, an ""Anyone But Bush"" button-seller and an off-key rendition of ""We Shall Overcome.""
Dave Poklinkoski, the president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 2304, said he was at the rally to express solidarity with the workers around the world and oppose corporations, which he said were partially responsible for the war.
""It really is in many respects a strategic war over resources, but it's also a strategic war over politics,"" he said. ""Our government and the corporations that are running it want to be able to rape, plunder, pillage, invest and do whatever they want around the globe.""
Retired Vietnam veteran Will Williams of Veterans for Peace and the Madison Area Peace Coalition, said he was worried about the effects of the war on the soldiers fighting in Iraq and wanted to bring the troops home.
According to Williams, his opposition to the war comes from his own ""terrible"" experience in Vietnam.
""I was gung-ho at first,"" he said. ""When I was in Vietnam and when I first came back, I hated the protesters because I was brainwashed in my boot camp into believing that I was doing the right thing. But after coming back and seeing the truth unfold as to why we were there, I came to realize that Vietnam was a wrong war just as Iraq was a wrong war.""
Williams added that he wanted to show the troops the support he never got when he returned from the war.
Department of Transportation employee Jonquil Wegmann-Johnston has a brother and future sister-in-law stationed in Baghdad. She said she wanted the United States to finish reconstruction rather than pull out the troops, but she believes the United Nations should be in charge of Iraq.
""We have an obligation to Iraq to rebuild it so that we don't have to go over there in another 10 years,"" she said. ""[Bush] needs to seek U.N. support, and we need to apologize to the world.\
