An anti-war protest targeting the United States Army recruiting station at University Square, part of 'National Stand Down Day,' is scheduled for today.
Endorsed by several national organizations including Iraq Pledge of Resistance and Code Pink Women for Peace, protest organizers said they plan to use non-violent civil disobedience in an attempt to close down the recruiting station and bring attention to the war in Iraq.
Specific tactics will include blocking the entrance to the recruiting station and reading aloud the names of Iraqi and American casualties, according to Joy First of the group Madison Pledge of Resistance.
Officers at the recruiting station in University Square had few comments on 'National Stand Down Day.'
One recruiter said that the best way to neutralize a protest situation would be to simply lock up and leave the office.
He pointed out that the actual processing station for the Army is located in Milwaukee, and shutting down the University Square office would not bring the process of enlisting to a halt.
A Milwaukee recruiting station said that there is no standard protocol the stations follow in the event of a protest, but different force protection measures exist, including vacating the office and contacting the police.
'The Army is dedicated to defending the nation and the liberties guaranteed to all citizens under the Constitution,' said a spokesperson at the station who preferred to remain anonymous. 'While I may not agree with their point of view, I respect their right to peacefully demonstrate.'
The Madison demonstration will be just one of many non-violent anti-war protests this Friday, as 'National Stand Down Day' is a countrywide effort.
'They're calling for the same action across the states,' said Tiffany Burns, an organizer with Code Pink Women for Peace. 'The target is definitely recruiting stations.'
Both Burns and First emphasized criticisms of the Bush administration's No Child Left Behind Act as an additional protest complaint.
They associated the funding of the war with the monetary shortage in many public schools.
'The idea is that we're investing all this money in the war in Iraq,' Burns said. 'The numbers keep going up and up and up to pay for the cost of war, while simultaneously cutting funding to schools across the United States.'
First was also quick to defend her support of actual troops serving in Iraq despite being opposed to the conflict itself.
'Some people like to think that if we're against the war, it means that we don't support the individual soldiers who are over in Iraq, and that's totally not true,' First said. 'I think the best way to support them is by not sending them into harm's way in this war that is illegal and immoral.'
