Five years ago, the United States went to war in Iraq. As some of this generation watches their siblings and friends fight or die overseas some are choosing to support those efforts at home or protest for peace. UWIRE affiliates are covering the impact of war on students and politics.

Decisions on Iraq War still affect candidates

With the fifth anniversary of the American military presence in Iraq on the horizon, American public opinion has necessitated that presidential candidates talk candidly on their views of the controversy and remedies for the situation.

In a Gallup poll taken this month, 31 percent of Americans said they disapproved of the Bush administration’s maintenance of the Iraqi war. This figure increased from 24 in percent Feb. 2007. A majority of Americans have not backed the administration’s Iraq workings since March 2004, a mere year after the onset of the conflict on March 20, 2003.

Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., debated Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., in Austin Feb. 21. When the war was inevitably brought up, she took a firm stance of opposition, saying she would devise a plan within two months of taking office to bring troops home.
Full Story from The Lariat

5 years later: A look at the objectives of the Iraq War

Five years ago, on March 20, 2003, the United States went to war in Iraq.

At that time, President George W. Bush said the objectives of the invasion were to disarm weapons of mass destruction, remove Saddam Hussein from power and liberate the Iraqi people.

Enough time has passed now to look back on those objectives and see what has and has not been accomplished.

Although Hussein has been removed from power and executed, many controversies still remain in Iraq.

The inability to discover WMDs, the extreme cost of the war and an increasing number of fatalities are just a few that have garnered headlines during the Iraq war.
Full Story from The Iowa State Daily

U. Wisconsin-area activists protest 5 years of war

More than 100 Madison activists of all ages gathered around the Capitol last week in a five-day protest marking the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Miles Kristan, an anti-war activist, organized events held at the Capitol and State Street Saturday through Wednesday, with assistance from the Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice, and the Madison Area Peace Coalition.
Full Story from The Badger Herald

Students protest Iraq War

With rainboots and umbrellas, a large group of Harvard students and other Boston-area residents marched across campus yesterday afternoon to protest the Iraq War on its fifth anniversary.

Students distributed homemade signs with slogans like “Harvard Against War” and “Out of the Armchair, Into the Streets” to a crowd of about 50 people who started gathering outside the Science Center around 2:30.
Full Story from The Harvard Crimson

Protests at Brown U. mark five years of war in Iraq

Protesting the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, students from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Students for a Democratic Society marched through downtown Providence yesterday in a demonstration of between 150 and 200 people.

OIF and Providence SDS, which is composed of SDS groups from Brown, the Rhode Island School of Design and local high schools, organized a “Week of Action” from March 17 to March 20. The week includes a movie screening, a “Funk the War!” dance party and a “direct action” event today at noon.

Direct action is “direct engagement with the system … rather than lobbying or protesting,” SDS organizer Mike Da Cruz ‘09 said. It is “civil disobedience, an attempt to put ourselves in direct opposition, directly confront the person with the power to change things,” he added.
Full Story from The Brown Daily Herald

Protesters mark fifth anniversary of Iraq war

Hundreds of protesters jammed the streets of Downtown Berkeley yesterday, part of a nationwide protest against the war in Iraq on its five-year anniversary.

The participants, which included representatives from anti-war groups Code Pink, World Can’t Wait and the ANSWER Coalition, marched through both Downtown and Southside Berkeley, blocking traffic while chanting anti-war slogans.

Fifty extra Berkeley police officers were on duty to manage the protests. Police said there were no arrests.
Full Story Daily Californian