U.S. IN IRAQ Valley residents join group in war protest

Cater disagrees that people can't be anti-war and still support the troops.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
HOWLAND -- Linda Cater was happy to be amid the throng of people united for a cause -- an end to U.S. involvement in Iraq.
Cater, a Packard Electric retiree, traveled to Washington, D.C., with about a dozen other people from the Mahoning Valley to join a massive demonstration Saturday on the National Mall.
The Associated Press said the demonstration drew a crowd of 100,000 or more, the largest such gathering in the capital since the war began in March 2003.
"I think Iraq is another Vietnam," she said. "We were lied to, and now we're there, and I don't see any way out of it. I think we will just eventually withdraw, and as soon as we're gone, everything will go back to the way it was."
Supports troops
Cater supports U.S. troops but is against the Iraq war. She disagrees with opponents who say people can't be anti-war and supportive of troops at the same time.
Active opposition to a war where thousands of U.S. troops have been killed is being supportive of the soldiers fighting it, she said.
Cater opposes the Bush administration's foreign policy not only because of the loss of American lives, but because funding the war is draining the U.S. economy.
"We're spending billions to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan and everything here gets cut," she said. "They just keep chipping away at the middle class.
"Now we're being told our social programs are going to be cut even more to pay for the damage from [hurricanes] Katrina and Rita. We need to get out of Iraq and use that money for our own people here at home."
Cater supports local groups such as the Valley Coalition for Peace and Justice and Peace Action Group who took part in Saturday's rally. She has been involved in candlelight vigils and other local peace demonstrations, and wants to be more involved.