Protesters decry airstrike, fear possible war with Iran
Dozens of people gathered Saturday afternoon on street corners along Camelback Road in central Phoenix to decry the U.S. airstrike that killed Iranian military leader Qasem Soleimani earlier this week.
Members of the group, which was split into two pockets that stationed themselves at 22nd and 24th streets, largely expressed concern about the United States potentially getting embroiled in another long-term conflict in the Middle East.
One of the approximately 60 people protesting by about 12:30 p.m. was 72year-old Sue Baird, a member of the local activist group Indivisible Phoenix.
She stood at the edge of the sidewalk and held up a sign that said, “No War
With Iran,” telling The Arizona Republic she felt it would be a “complete disaster” to enter another war.
“Every time we go into the Middle East, it’s like going into a tar pit,” she said. “We get stuck and we can’t get out.”
She also expressed concern that a conflict with Iran could be longer, blood
ier and more costly than previous wars in the Middle East.
Baird said she believed Soleimani’s death is not comparable to the United States targeting foes such as Osama bin Laden.
“We’re going after a nation, rather than a non-state terrorist like the others have been,” she said.
The Defense Department said it conducted the attack at President Donald Trump’s direction as a “defensive action” against Soleimani, who it said was planning further attacks on American diplomats and service members.
Soleimani was an extremely influential figure inside Iran, heading Iran’s elite Quds Force, part of the country’s hard-line paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Ken Kenegos, a 71-year-old member of Progressive Democrats of America, held a red and blue sign that said “healthcare not warfare.”
He said he didn’t believe the U.S. should have targeted Soleimani, even though he was considered a terrorist.
“When we invaded Iraq and killed hundreds of thousands of people, that’s not terrorism?” he said.
U.S. Sen. Martha McSally, in a Friday statement, wrote that Soleimani was “responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American soldiers.”
She added that Soleimani’s “pursuit of state-sponsored terror has finally come to an end” because of the airstrike.
Kenegos said, though, that he worries the airstrike will result in a tit-fortat between Iran and the U.S., eventually resulting in another war that he doesn’t believe the U.S. can afford.
“War means death for many innocent people on both sides and destruction — that’s all it means,” he said.
About 3,500 paratroopers from Fort Bragg’s 82nd Airborne Division were expected to be sent to the Middle East following Soleimani’s death, the first 650 of which were deployed to Kuwait on New Year’s Day.
This is the first short-notice combat deployment for the division — meaning soldiers leave within 18 hours of the call — since the invasion of Panama in 1989.
Amy Picone, 29, also attended the Saturday protest and said she is “100% scared for another world war.”
“I think the U.S. has burned a lot of bridges in foreign countries,” she said. “They don’t trust us anymore and that’s terrifying.”
Picone said she believes the president ordered the airstrike as a political move to coincide with his reelection campaign.
“It makes you pause,” she said. “Why is it that we’ve never heard about this person until now? Why now?”
Picone waved to vehicles as they passed the group of protesters, telling The Arizona Republic that most of the responses from drivers were positive and included honks, thumbs-up and peace signs.
She said there were some drivers who flipped the group off or displayed “aggressive” behaviors, but they were in the minority.
Picone encouraged the public to vote and be engaged in current events, even if their messages fall on deaf ears.
“Say this is nothing and it (the incident) ends in us going to war, at least I wasn’t that person sitting around on a Saturday and just complaining,” she said.
“I think the U.S. has burned a lot of bridges in foreign countries. They don’t trust us anymore and that’s terrifying.” Amy Picone Protester