SLIPPERY ROCK —
Three thousand American flags line the Quad at Slippery Rock University, each one representing two Americans who have been killed since 2001, when the war on terror began.
"A lot of people forget about it," Emily Buck, secretary of the student group, Young Americans for Liberty, said Monday.
The group, started in August by Brandon Cestrone, is protesting war through Sunday to show how little the United States has accomplished, Buck said.
"What about the Iraqis? They deserve a better government. Imperialism isn't the answer," said Buck, 20, a sophomore majoring in recreation management and tourism with a minor in business.
Many students aren't interested in the war on terror or are confused by conflicting media reports, even mistakenly thinking YAL is protesting veterans, which they're not, she said.
YAL hopes to help those students understand what's been going on since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and also set up a "Was It Worth It?" wall in the middle of the flags for people to share their thoughts, she said.
The demonstration was set up Sunday night and the wall was already filling up by Monday afternoon with messages including:
"Support the troops"
"Was it worth it?"
"How much blood is enough blood?"
"End the occupation!"
"Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11"
"Blowback the curse of imperialism"
What started as a defensive reaction turned into an imperialistic and aggressive war, Buck said.
"We don't support the manner in how we went to war. People are sick of being at war," Buck said of how YAL members feel.
They hope their protest serves as a starting point for healthy debates among other students.
"We want to encourage a dialogue. We're inheriting this country," she said.
The group bought the flags with a grant from the YAL organization, which has more than 200 chapters nationwide, the SRU chapter is one of the top three most active groups, Buck said.
"We want people to start paying attention," she said as she wrote her own message on the wall: "We're not radical; we're rational."
They have been spreading the message of small government and liberty on campus, Cestrone, the group's president said in a news release.
Steve Strausbaugh, the group's vice president, said the war on terror is "unwinnable and unconstitutional" and has taken the lives of more than 6,000 of the United States' mothers, fathers, sons, sisters, daughters, wives, husbands, nephews, cousins, aunts, uncles, wives, grandmothers and grandfathers.
"If people understood and heard more about the term blowback, they would truly have a better understanding of the war on terror," he said in the release. "We stand together and say enough war, death and suffering; We want peace."
The group is planning a movie screening of "Charlie Wilson's War" followed by a discussion on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East since the 1950s.
Young Americans for Liberty is the continuation of Students for Ron Paul and seeks to recruit, train, educate and mobilize students on the ideals of individual liberty and the U.S. Constitution.
For more information on Young Americans for Liberty, visit www.facebook.com/yalsru or yaliberty.org
Published March 21, 2012, in Allied News. Pick up a copy at 201 A Erie St., Grove City.
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Young Americans for Liberty, a student group at Slippery Rock University, recently protested the war on terror with 3,000 American flags in the campus quad and the "Free Speech Wall." Each flag represents two Americans who have been killed since 2001. Monica Pryts
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SRU student group protests war
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