Armed with bongos and anti-war placards, members of the Southern Illinois Peace Coalition and the Shawnee Green Party assembled at the steps of Shryock Auditorium Wednesday to remind citizens that unilateral military action against Iraq would constitute a counterproductive and inhumane policy.

Both groups have been protesting the possibility of U.S. bombing in the Persian Gulf for about two weeks, lining up on Main Street and at the Amtrak depot on weekends in an effort to inform the public of current policy measures.

The United States has responded to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s refusal to allow United Nations weapons inspectors access to presidential palaces suspected of storing weapons of mass destruction by amassing an arsenal of aircraft in the Gulf. President Bill Clinton initiated the buildup with the intent of bombing targeted Iraqi sites if 11th-hour diplomatic tactics failed. After three hours of negotiations with Hussein Sunday, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan announced a deal that allows UNSCOM, the weapon inspection team, to carry out inspections of suspected weapons sites, accompanied by senior diplomats of ambassadorial rank from several countries.

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Though war with Iraq seems temporarily to have been averted by the recent U.N. settlement, the protesters, appearing uneasy in their acceptance of the compromise, convened anyway. After the pre-ceremony bongo jams quieted, speakers including Richard Whitney and David Christensen addressed the group, denouncing current U.S. foreign policy in Iraq and America’s half-hearted commitment to the United Nations.

Whitney, an SIUC professor in history and Green Party member, energized the crowd with fiery criticism of American efforts in the Gulf, calling for an end to U.N. sanctions on Iraq and a 180 degree reversal of American policy toward the embattled Arab country. According to U.N. reports, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians have died because of malnutrition and disease. Whitney and others contend U.N. sanctions are at fault for causing these deaths while simultaneously insulating Hussein and affirming his power.

Whitney said unilateral action is not the answer to current U.N. woes. Any action taken to ensure Hussein’s compliance with U.N. regulations should be global in nature, he said. Whitney also argues that Hussein must be dealt with by the Iraqi people and not by a hegemon intent on enforcing its own rules.

While we’re not using biological weapons on Iraq, we might as well be, Whitney said. Our true national interest lies in making new friends, not more enemies.

Right now, we’re guaranteeing a new generation of Iraqi people seething with hatred toward the United States.

Christensen, a retired SIUC geography professor, echoed these sentiments, calling for a halt to economic sanctions and a devotion to global community. He argued that America has fallen behind in its commitments to the United Nations and subsequently has taken international law into its own hands, acting as a vigilante of global justice.

We are viewed by other members of the U.N. as a delinquent, he said. We are. Billions of dollars worth.

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Christensen denounced any military strikes as wrong and counterproductive. He stressed the inhumanity of such strikes, branding them antithetical to the notion of a global community.

The whole globe on which we all depend is a family, he said. We’ve been trying to get them to follow our line. We’re only one nation out of 180 some.

Though most of the gatherers at Shryock Wednesday assembled to protest military action, there were some in the 40-person crowd critical of the group’s efforts.

Nate Newcomb, a senior in history from Centralia, stood on the sidewalk and watched the bongo players and placard-carrying protesters while chuckling to himself. Newcomb maintains Hussein is responsible for killing his own people while laughing in the United Nation’s face and should face military consequences if he reneges on the U.N. settlement. Newcomb, a member of the College Republicans, also is wary of the deal and said the United States should be diligent in keeping an eye on Iraq.

I hate to see troops go to war, he said. But, something needs to be taken into consideration. Saddam Hussein has used these weapons on his own people. What’s to stop him from using them on us?

There’s always hope this conflict will end, but it’s a skeptical hope.