Despite Tuesday's news that the conclusion of Operation Iraqi Freedom might be drawing near, local chapters of Veterans for Peace and the Iraq Pledge of Resistance carried out their plans to hold a civil disobedience action on the UW-Madison campus.
The groups began their symbolic march at 3 p.m. at the Madison Veterans' Hospital. Upon arriving at the Air Force Reserved Officer Training Corps office, seven of the approximately 30 participants peacefully blocked the building's entrance.
\I think too much money is spent on the wrong things,"" UW-Madison graduate student Martha Boyd said. Boyd came to support the demonstration, but did not participate in the civil disobedience. ""I would prefer that a lot of changes be made, both in the way the money is divided up and the way it is spent.""
Officers from the Madison Police Department, who accompanied the group during its entire demonstration, did not report any problems from the protesters.
""This group has always been very respectful. They have followed their plan to the letter,"" Sgt. David McCaw said. ""It has been a negotiation between the police department and them. It is total cooperation.""
Both groups said the objective of the march and demonstration was to raise awareness of the fact that too much of the federal budget is devoted to current military spending, while at the same time U.S. veterans are being ignored. The date of the march-tax day-is symbolic because the protesters expressed their desire to change the way their tax money is spent.
""I am here to protest the inequities between recruiting and supporting the troops when they come home,"" said UW-Madison graduate student James Phetteplace, who was among the seven placed under arrest. ""Right now our administration wants to cut benefits to veterans, where they are very willing to send them off to war and not help them afterwards.""
Tuesday's action in Madison involved two groups who have been active in protest across the country.
Iraq Pledge of Resistance is a coalition of over 55 groups who carry out non-violent civil disobedience to protest U.S. military action in Iraq, as well as military-related spending.
After the demonstration ended, McCaw reiterated his satisfaction with the group's peaceful and coorperative nature.
""Everything went as scheduled. Less people [were] arrested than they initially told us,"" McCaw said. ""There were seven citations, and everything went to plan.\
