Today, University of Wisconsin students from all over the state, including Madison, will be joining students from around the world in a one-day international student strike: Books Not Bombs. We are demanding that the United States government prioritize education over war and military spending, especially towards the unjust preemptive war against Iraq.

As students, we must recognize that our futures and the fate of our nation are not only dependent on authority, but ultimately lay in the hands of the people. Therefore, it is our duty to send a clear, united voice in protest, informing the government that we will not accept a war that has not been justified.

The government has proposed that the war with Iraq will cost at least $200 billion. At the same time, the state of Wisconsin is facing a $4 billion deficit. Consequently, the state is cutting $250 million, or 38 percent, from the UW system. These cuts are being passed to us through an 18 percent tuition increase.

Meanwhile, the message from the government continues to be “We can’t afford to help you.” The most immediate and direct threat of this war to students is financial.

Undeniably, neither can we underestimate the high cost of this war as measured in blood and how it has severe impact on the world we live in. Iraq is a highly devastated country. Every year UNICEF estimates at least 1.2 million people have died as a result of economic sanctions in Iraq. The civilian casualties of the last Gulf war and the continuous bombings ever since have numbered in the hundreds of thousands. The next war will be no different.

In 1996, when asked about the death of half a million Iraqi children, Madeline Albright said, “The price is worth it.” Such a price is never worth it. We all remember how deeply the tragedy and deaths of Sept. 11, 2001, shook our nation. The ongoing deaths of innocent Iraqi civilians, equally tragic and painful, cannot be ignored. With the rest of the world as witness to the horrors of this severe act of aggression and as the devastation of innocent civilians continues, anti-Americanism will only increase along with threats of terrorism.

Protecting national security through war is illogical and will only perpetuate this cycle of terror. The United States must not be a global leader because it has the largest army or the most advanced technology. Rather, the United States must be a global leader in education, advancing democracy and protecting the rights of all nations. The only doctrines of preemptions we should follow are in battling ignorance, poverty and global epidemics.

We stand together today concerned for our future. Education is the gateway for our children’s future; however, the prospect of war may cut that future short. War with Iraq will further divert essential funding from federal education programs, which are underfunded in the current budget. Without increased funding, many children will be left behind and the minimal increases in the Pell Grant and other federal financial-aid programs threaten access for those students seeking higher education. This war would hastily send the sons and daughters of Wisconsin’s families to a dangerous and uncertain fate in the Middle East. With declining financial aid and increasing opportunities in the military, low-income families are particularly at risk as they overwhelmingly make up our military forces.

Many wonder how striking and missing classes will make a difference. One needs only look back a few years at the history of our campus and previous antiwar movements to find the answer. During the Vietnam War, students utilized their positions as exempt from the draft to transform this campus into a strong voice against the war. With the combined effort of several other antiwar movements across the nation, our message was heard, and it influenced Nixon’s decision to end the war. More recently in 1998, more than 1,500 students held a walkout that instigated an immediate tuition freeze. Today we will demonstrate that we are willing to sacrifice one day to voice our concerns with the war and ensure access to education for all people. Join us today at 11 a.m. at the top of Bascom Hill to demand our right to education!

Rebecca Petzel, sophomore in College of Letters and Science

Natalia Hildner, freshman in College of Letters and Science