One Army veteran, Stephen Fryburg, joined Veterans for Peace when his son was shipped off to the Iraq War.
“I’ve been to Iran twice…I’ve been all over Europe, Egypt, Israel. I stayed with a Palestinian family for a while and got a chance to see firsthand the horrible way that Palestinians are treated,” he said. “And it’s showed me that, people around the world are no different than the people here in the United States. We want to be able to raise our children in peace, and to know that you can get up in the morning and not be worrying about bombs falling on your head and destroying your family and your communities.”
Fryburg said he was moved to act after seeing the aftermath of an airstrike at an Iranian girls’ school which killed an estimated 165 people, most of them children.
“When I was in Iran, I went to schools like that, and I talked to children like that,” he said, growing emotional. “It’s just nuts. It hurts. And all we’re doing is creating more enemies than we’re ever going to be able to kill.”
Others held signs protesting federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The rally was organized in part by the Party for Socialism and Liberation in Dayton, who organized a similar event the week prior immediately following the U.S. airstrikes.
“The other side of this war is our own government, ruled by billionaires,” PSL organizer Maxx Bowman said on stage Saturday. “These billionaires are ready and willing to sacrifice our families...we are the ones building the planes. We are the ones flying them. We are the ones flying and dying while they reap the benefits and leave us begging for affordable food, housing and healthcare.”
Ohio lawmakers have splintered opinions on the country’s operations in Iran. Senator Bernie Moreno said he would “fully support” President Trump’s “decision to eliminate the threat once and for all once it became clear there was no other option.”
Ohio Rep. Mike Turner said on national news last week that the U.S. acted on an “opportunity to eliminate an imminent threat” when it carried out allied strikes with Israel.
The U.S. House of Representatives Thursday voted 219-212 to defeat a bipartisan plan to halt offensive military operations without the express authorization of Congress.
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