The War in Iraq and Brazos County

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Click here to watch the Batt Video for March 20, 2007

Yesterday was the fourth anniversary of the beginning of the War in Iraq, and naturally, the protesters made their voices heard around the U.S. In Bryan-College Station, the home of Texas A&M, and “Bush Country” to many (if you’re not familiar with A&M, we have George H.W. Bush’s Presidential Library on our campus), the community as a whole is quite conservative. With the Library, the Corps of Cadets, A&M’s military history, and the simple fact that we’re in Texas, it’s pretty easy to see that most of A&M would be pretty supportive of the war effort. Heck, our previous president is now serving as the Secretary of Defense.

With this in mind, I assumed that a protest here would be, well, non-existent. But when I heard about the Brazos Valley Coalition Against the War’s protest, I was surprised. I headed out to the location of their vigil/protest, the corner of Texas Ave. and University Drive, the northeast corner of campus.

While there wasn’t an enormous amount of protesters, there was a small handful, maybe 30 to 40. Most of the people brought signs, someone was passing out roses, and overall, the atmosphere was pleasant. This wasn’t a rowdy group of extreme environmentalists, nor a small gathering of pot-smoking hippies, as some people at A&M would probably assume. Some were students, some professors, some simply members of the community. Honestly, the worst behavior at the event came from college students driving by screaming obscenities from their massive trucks. I’m not saying I agreed with these protesters, but it was nice to actually get some dialog flowing without a debate devolving into a shouting match.

I think the most surprising thing of the evening was the diversity of the group (well, except for racial diversity…everyone was white. I expected everyone to be from the same group, spouting the same talking-points I’ve heard about the Iraq war from the talking heads on the cable news networks (Lord knows a lot of conservative groups are just as bad). But I didn’t.

Some people were angry about Iraqi civilian deaths. Others had friends serving in Iraq, or had actually lost friends to the fighting. Several of the protesters even brought up the point that, since the Iraq war began, funding for student financial aid has been cut drastically.

I think the most moving comment I heard was from someone in a passing vehicle. Towards the end of my recording, I was standing on the median on Texas Ave., getting some faraway shots  for the video. A guy waiting a the light leaned out of his car and told me something to the effect of, “Hey, I’m a member of the military, and I just want to thank ya’ll for what you’re doing here.” I had to let him know that I was a member of the media (I guess having a Canon Eulra 100 instead of an XL2 doesn’t help me look professional, but we’re working on that).

Overall, it was an easy story to cover, as only one person refused to grant an interview. I like covering events like this, because it shows this community exactly how diverse we are, and that not all of us fit the mold of the typical Aggie.

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Filed under Protests, War in Iraq