Days following the March for Peace protest in Washington, D.C., members of the International Socialist Organization gathered to debate ongoing questions involving the war in Iraq.
Voices echoed the desire for immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops at the ISO's kickoff meeting Wednesday night in the Humanities Building.
""The anti-war movement is back,"" UW-Madison graduate student and ISO member Elizabeth Wrigley-Field said, to enthusiastic applause.
Posters covered the walls with phrases expressing the group's strong anti-war sentiment.
The faces of President Bush and Vice Pres. Dick Cheney were next to ""Liars!"" on one poster. Another, and the main focus of discussion read, ""U.S. troops out of Iraq—Bring them home now.""
Paul Pryse, UW-Madison junior and ISO member, said that most of the solutions proposed to end the war in Iraq, such as impeaching Bush and Cheney, voting Democrat in 2008 and lobbying Congress, would not change anything.
""The reality is Republicans and Democrats both want to be the sole super power in the Middle East,"" Pryse said.
She added the media's distortion of the war and the reporting of accidental deaths cloud the public's conception of why troops are in Iraq.
""Accidental deaths aren't accidental,"" Pryse said. ""It's not accidental that U.S. troops are there.""
Ben Daniels, UW-Madison junior, explained why the ISO's purpose is so important.
""I feel that this is the only way that you can actually challenge and defeat this system,"" Daniels said of being a socialist. ""I think it's something that's necessary if the human race is going to survive.""
Pryse echoed Daniels' anti-traditional government sentiment, referring specifically to the war in Iraq.
""This war was never about liberating the Iraqis,"" Pryse said. ""It was for American capitalists.""
Daniels added it was the benefits of outside parties that sparked his interest in ISO.
""Certain countries or forces are out there causing long-time destruction, and most of the time there is someone benefiting,"" Daniels said. ""We're really in a position that if we don't start to do something about it ... we're doomed. That's what I want to do. That's why I'm here.""
