Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 17 April 2008 — Page 31

The Muncie Times • April 17, 2008 • Page 31

News Briefs

continued from page 29 of all ages to be anxious about the future. Gary Flowers, executive director of the Black Leadership Forum says civics must be reincorporated into mandatory school curricula in order to maintain educated engagement from elementary school to college. “In other words, we must make civic education cool again. And the candidates this year have given us a good head start on that journey,” Flowers says. “If we are to continue the excitement around election 2008, we must do so with an informed citizenry.” Ron Daniels, president of the Institute of the Black World - 21st Century, a New Yorkbased organization, says the real challenge will be maintaining the momentum of excitement through the election. Daniels echoed Clybum's sentiments. “If in fact somehow there’s a sense that Barack Obama has been treated unfairly by these super delegates, then there’s going to be a lot of these young people who are going to be discouraged and they’re just going to drop out,” says Daniels. “But, beyond the election, we don’t have many structures in place to capture that excitement into order to maintain the pressure.

My view is that no matter who is elected, we can’t just sort of relax. We have to say, there is still an agenda here and a progressive agenda that we need to continue to push forward.” Clybum concludes that maintaining the groundswell of voters will be contingent upon much more than just enthusiasm. “It all depends on the degree of success that we have between now and November,” he says. “I would hate to say what the strategy should be at this point because we just don’t know what the results are going to be.” 4,000 Dead, Over 29,000 Wounded in Iraq NEW YORK - The number of U.S. citizens to die in Iraq since the invasion's infancy five years ago hit 4,000 on the night of March 23, after a roadside bomb -the biggest killer of U.S. forces - in Baghdad killed four soldiers. Just a day before had been marked by bombings and rocket fire across Iraq that killed at least 60 Iraqis leaving many more wounded. At least 29,000 U.S. servicemen and women have been injured in the Iraq war, according to the Website www.icasualties.org, the majority of those casualties have

come after President George W. Bush declared on May 1, 2003 that the end of "major combat" in Iraq had come about. All across the nation, anti-war groups and peace groups held vigils after the announcement of the 4,000 death reached these shores. "We must do everything to end this war and bring our entire troop’s home," stated Leslie Cagan, national coordinator for United for Peace and Justice, one of the main sponsors of the enormous vigil at Union Square. "It's time for us to stop playing imperial policeman. This war is illegal and it's immoral and most of the American people are opposed to it," said demonstrator and Viet Nam war veteran, Hugh Bruce, 65. But, Bush seems undeterred by all the mayhem that abounds. After meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on March 24, at the State Department Bush said in a statement: "I will vow so long as I am president to make sure that those lives were not lost in vain." Despite ongoing challenges, the president, true to form, harbored no doubts, declaring that the United States was on track for victory. "The man is a dangerous demagogue," said James Kelly, a Newark anti-war activist, who lost his son in 2005 in

Iraq. "People who aren't speaking out against this war have become 'prisoners of war' and that's not good," Kelly told the AmNews. Kelly added he planned on joining students who were planning to protest in Newark on March 29."My son, Clarence Floyd, 28, his death was surely in vain. He was in the National Guard because there were no jobs," Kelly said. Floyd, a resident of an East Harlem Housing project, had done everything he could do to improve the life of his family. "He took care of his mother, grandmother and his children. He wasn't a gang banger, he attended Jobs Corps, where he earned his GED," stated the proud father. (To learn more about Kelly and Floyd see Youtube.com: JamesKelly Iraq War). The 1,000th U.S. soldier died in Sept. 2004, during the presidential election that returned Bush to office. In Oct. 2005, the toll climbed to 2,000, and in Dec. 2006 the toll reached 3,000. However, with the escalation of Americans killed abroad, the media attention has waned, according to the New York Times and the Washington Post. The Pew Research Center reported that public awareness concerning American military fatalities had waned since the

so-called "surge" in August 2007. The report said that press attention had waned for the same period of time, occupying three percent of news space. Analysts also looked at how the major papers covered the news of the 4,000th death. The NYT mentioned the 4,000 death in context of 13 Iraqis being killed by rocket fire into Baghdad's Green Zone. The Washington Post's front page story dealt with the new police chief in Fallujah. But, the LA Times led with the military death toll. Larry Holmes of the Troops Out Now Coalition told the AmNews that there are two important pieces of news the media is leaving out. "One, is the issue facing far too many of our 29,000 wounded and that is 40 percent of those wounded - are permanently disabled; and these are the hidden figures.” Holmes and fellow anti-war activist, Dustin Langley, insists that the media pay attention to the high numbers of vets returning with PostTraumatic Stress disorder. "One out of five, that is the number we are being told", state the two activists. "That number is probably higher, and that means serious problems facing our communities and families in the continued on page 32