Two Iraq vets and others gather in Overland Park to protest war

By RUSS PULLEY, Kansas City Star

Two Iraq war veterans and a crowd of supporters marched in Overland Park on Saturday to protest the occupation of Iraq.

Many chanted and carried placards urging drivers to honk if they wanted to end the war. Occasionally, some beeped a reply.

Michael Sanger, who said he served as a military police sergeant from the Arizona National Guard during the invasion in 2003-2004, spoke along with other war opponents. About 100 people from various anti-war groups marched past Oak Park Mall for a rally in front of Sen. Sam Brownback’s office at 95th Street and Nieman Road.

Sanger, of Lawrence, is founder of the Kansas City chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War.

He said he helped train Iraqi police and army, an effort he characterized as confused and uncoordinated. Sanger said he observed that anyone who portrayed themselves as former police or Iraqi army were allowed to join security forces and given U.S.-supplied weapons. The same weapons then would be confiscated during raids on suspected insurgents, he said.

He said he and many other U.S. troops distrusted Iraqi security because they believed it to be widely infiltrated by insurgents and al-Qaida. “They are the very people making the roadside bombs,” he said.

Sanger said he made many Iraqi friends, both Sunni and Shiite. He said Iraq is a nation of good, moral people, but he thinks sectarian differences will doom the U.S. plan for a democracy.

“To implant democracy, based on our religion, in Iraq is insane,” Sanger said.

Chris Wilson, an infantryman from Independence who served in Iraq in 2004 and 2005, said he was a supporter of the war before he went, believing the country had weapons of mass destruction.

“We all kind of got played. It was based on lies and deception,” Wilson said.

To reach Russ Pulley, call 816-234-7811 or send e-mail to rpulley@kcstar.com

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