In the wake of Secretary of State Colin Powell's presentation before the United Nations Security Council, many local and University groups have voiced publicly their criticisms of possible U.S. action against Iraq.
Wednesday, more than a week after the City Council declared Charlottesville a "City of Peace," the University Democrats overwhelmingly passed a resolution condemning the Bush administration's stance on Iraq.
"The President hasn't made his case for the war," University Democrats President Ian Amelkin said. Iraqi President Saddam Hussien "has weapons of mass destruction but this does not warrant a preemptive strike."
Amelkin also pointed to the war opposition from traditional key United States allies as further validation that a preemptive strike is the wrong course of action.
The resolution also urged continuing diplomatic efforts, Iraqi compliance with U.N. resolutions and Baghdad's cooperation with weapons inspectors.
Sue Chase, a board member for the Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice, said the Center's opposition to the potential war chiefly is rooted in humanitarian concerns.
"A war would be extremely devastating to civilians in Iraq and cause way more damage than has already occurred," Chase said. She said that over 5,000 Iraqi children have died since the United Nations first began imposing sanctions on the country in the early 1990s.
Chase also cautioned that a U.S.-led action in the Middle East would inflame already brewing anti-American sentiments -- endangering U.S. citizens both at home and abroad.
"If the President really wants to protect U.S. citizens, he needs to stop the war, not start a war," Chase said.
Military action against Iraq also would violate the U.N. Charter, according to Chase.
College Republicans President Ben Beliles, however, said opposition groups are wrong in writing off what he said he feels is a strong case for the war and excusing Hussien's disregard for the international community.
Since Iraq continually has violated U.N. resolutions calling for the dismantling of its weapons of mass destruction, the country has effectively forfeited its fate to the international community, Beliles said.
Addressing the humanitarian concerns expressed by opposition groups, Beliles said they are "blown out of proportion." The real enemy of the Iraqi people, he said, is Hussien, who has committed gross human rights abuses against his countrymen.
"Innocent people do die in war, which is unfortunate" but war still is the proper course of action, Beliles said.
Jessica Forman, a co-founder of the Anti-War Coalition at U.Va., disagreed. Any rationalizations for armed action are unjustifiable, and international disputes never should be solved through war, she said.
The Center and the Anti-War Coalition at U.Va. will co-sponsor an anti-war march to the downtown mall this Saturday. The march, coinciding with similar protests in cities across the country, will begin in front of the Rotunda at 2:30 p.m. and proceed down Main Street.
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