‘Peace Train’ activist urges public to support anti-war cause

I was one of about 500 New Jerseyans who rode the "Peace Train" Dec. 7. After holding rallies at local train stations all over New Jersey, peace activists converged by rail on Newark to show our opposition to war with Iraq.

At the New Brunswick station, I waited with 100 other people for the 10:38, which whizzed by 40 minutes late without stopping, apparently already filled to capacity with protesters from Trenton and Princeton. At least this was one day public transportation made money.

Hundreds of protesters gathered in the snow at Peter Francesca Park across from Newark’s Penn Station to listen to speakers express our demands: "No war on Iraq! No preemptive strike! Yes to nonviolent solutions to international conflict!"

After marching through Newark chanting "No war on Iraq!," we rallied at the steps of city hall, where the link was made between money drained from community needs and spending on war.

Why war with Iraq? There is no connection between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida. It is really war for oil. The Bush government is made up of oil men. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice was on the board of Chevron and has an oil tanker named after her. Vice President Dick Cheney’s company, Haliburton, the world’s largest oil service company, has had plans for years to build a pipeline across Afghanistan. Our foreign policy is what you would expect, being run by oil executives.

No war for oil. Contact the New Jersey coalition against war in Iraq at www.nowarnj.org.

Bonnie Camo

Kendall Park section

of South Brunswick