by Derek Farwell
Columnist

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have done a great deal to bring together Americans in patriotism and national pride. It’s also caused a lot more conflicts between people who either support military action in the Middle East and those who strongly oppose it. I’ll spare you my own feelings on the politics of the situation and stick to the facts of a confrontation I saw between large groups of people far to one side or the other of the issue. It was a pretty wild confrontation that resulted in a lot of physical damage to people and property, and I had a front row seat to watch it.

When we deployed to Iraq it was a pretty efficient process. Board a plane at the Air Force Base, fly across the ocean, and we’re there. We carried with us our personal items and a few duffel bags full of military equipment. Our vehicles and heavy weapons however, were put on boats and sailed across the ocean into the Persian Gulf, through Kuwait and into Iraq. The trip home was similar and ended at the Port of Olympia in Olympia, Washington. The metropolitan area of Washington is quite an interesting mix of people. Washington residents are pretty overwhelmingly liberal with a portion of people who fall on the far left, but because there are massive Army, Navy, and Air Force bases in the Seattle-Tacoma area, there is a large veteran population which tends to take a more far right stance. For the most part everyone lives happily and this was before the legalization of recreational marijuana use. But because of these contrasting views there are an incredible amount of protests.

Upon returning home one of our tasks was to go down to the Port of Olympia and drive our vehicles back to Fort Lewis. It’s only about a 20 minute drive, but that information was never kept secret so we were told that there would be large scale protests as we tried to leave. We were given the lecture about how we are professional soldiers and should act accordingly because there would be a lot of cameras and physical altercations with protestors that wouldn’t be good for anybody. I was expecting a small protest since that’s all I’d seen to that point, but what was waiting for us was another one of those experiences that I’ll never forget. We drove out of the port at night and as soon as we left the gate we saw the crowd that had gathered. It wasn’t a small protest, it was thousands of people. One side of the street was filled with American flags and people cheering for us while the other side was filled with people yelling and screaming and holding signs. The general consensus of these signs was that we’re all criminals and we’re going to spend eternity in hell.

Between the two sides were the police. Dozens of police in riot gear, a SWAT team, mounted police, foot patrol police, and they were busy. Protestors were running into the streets to try to block our path. They were throwing rocks, bottles, drinks, garbage, and anything else they could get their hands on at our vehicles. I saw riot police body slam people onto the concrete and haul them away. I saw a number of officers use non lethal rubber pellet guns at people who were trying to run into the streets. But perhaps the most puzzling tactic used by the protestors was that when one of them did get through the wall of police officers, they would lay down in the middle of the street directly in front of our convoy of vehicles, each of which weighed 25 tons. Everyone who managed to get that far was drug off the street and handcuffed.

I appreciate people’s right to protest because having your voice heard and the right to disagree with government actions is the right of every American. That being said, I believe I have come up with a more effective way in which anti war protestors can have their voices heard. A simple Internet search has taught me that it is possible to get a flight from the United States to Baghdad, Iraq and Kabul, Afghanistan. I think people could more convincingly make their point if they showed up outside the gates of an American base in Afghanistan and wave their signs at the soldiers who are leaving the base to drive into combat.

Perhaps people would also listen more if you showed up at a firefight between US forces and the Taliban with your signs.