Friday is the start of parents’ weekend at Washington University. It’s also the day thousands of tombstones will adorn the lawn north of the school’s library.
The tombstones are part of a joint effort between student peace groups at Wash U, SLU, UMSL and Fontbonne. The stones represent American soldiers and Iraqi civilians who have died in the Iraq War.
The display was at UMSL on Monday, and next Monday it moves to SLU where it will focus on the effects of war on women. Although the display is sponsored by anti-war groups, it is not meant to forward any particular political message.
October 11th, 2007 at 8:22 am
I saw it on campus at UMSL. It obviously has a political message and it was nice to see.
October 11th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
So let me get this straight. If I say, “3821 soldiers have died in Iraq,” I am thereby making a political statement?
October 11th, 2007 at 5:37 pm
No, but putting the names on “tombstones” and placing them around a university campus makes it a little more of a political statement, I think.
October 11th, 2007 at 8:02 pm
Yo. War is simply a tool of the capitalists. Look at Blackwater, Haliburton, and the relationship between politicians (war hawks) and corporations. Cut out the profits and there will be no incentive for war, sauf ideology and imperialist control, but we know that Iraqi civilians will continue to stand up to the the US puppet masters!
October 11th, 2007 at 10:16 pm
Nico, I agree completely. When Hetfield et. al. did “Master of Puppets”, it’s no coincidence that there were tombstones as a backdrop. If our musicians can see it, record it, and try to enlighten us about it, why can’t ordinary people see through the war machine that reigns supreme? I have protested war since Viet Nam, yet the powers that be ignore our plea. How can the party of anti-abortion condone war and the death penalty? Help me understand the insanity, please!
October 12th, 2007 at 2:20 am
Metallica…What about Rage Against the Machine?
Megadeath? Peace Sells Whos Buying and Holywars.
October 12th, 2007 at 6:45 am
huh, and I always thought the best (& most famous) anti-war songs were by Pete Seeger… (or Bob Seger [2+2=?])
anyhoo… I’m just excited that their are students engaged in activism on UMSL’s campus–that is somewhat uncommon, and most positive.
October 12th, 2007 at 8:39 pm
Right, Doug, but it’s spelled “Megadeth”. I was just reflecting Nico’s last words, “puppet masters”, not implying that Metallica’s lyrics led the charge. Megadeth also had some fairly good commentary on another issue in the news today because of Gore’s Nobel Peace prize, the environment.
October 13th, 2007 at 7:24 am
Here’s some video from Channel 4 about the display at WashU:
http://www.kmov.com/video/ topvideo-index.html?nvid=183088 (you’ll have to delete the space between …video/ and topvideo…)