Activists mourn the fallen

The driver of a tractor-trailer truck let off a long honk of his horn before thrusting his middle finger toward the anti-war vigil at the corner of West and North Main Street.

Carol Tashie of Central Vermont Peace and Justice smiled as she waved to him.

A dozen protesters gathered at 6 p.m. Monday for the vigil marking the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Several held up a banner reading "9/11 five years later. When will the killing stop?"

"We're standing to absolutely mourn those who lost their life on that day, and we're mourning those who have been killed, wounded, displaced and otherwise terrorized by our government's actions since that day," Tashie said.

As she spoke, many other vehicles honked horns as they went by, but most of those drivers waved at the group.

"We're really here in a silent way of mourning," Tashie continued. "We're people of peace and conscience and we're here to mourn the fact that, in our name, people have lost their lives."

Tashie said she rejected the notion that the protest politicized the commemoration of the tragedy, but others said the event was already inherently politicized.

"The two go hand-in-hand," Dennis Duhaime of Rutland said. "Obviously, we were attacked. Ever since that day, we've been at war. We've lost 2,600 service people in Iraq and another 300 in Afghanistan. Whether or not the two were linked initially, they're definitely linked now because of our policies."

Melissa Chesnut-Tangerman of Middletown Springs argued that the current "war on terror" was the worst possible response to the Sept. 11 attacks.

"If what Al-Qaida wants is to engage the U.S., we're playing right into their hands," she said. "Linking the attacks to Iraq was a mistake and here we are, mired in the Middle East. Our government had an opportunity, post-9/11, to not do the expected thing and flex our might. He did not take that opportunity."

Several of the protesters said that the Bush administration has used Sept. 11 for political gain since the beginning. Tom Copps of Rutland, who held a sign saying, "I'm already against the next war," said he came out to protest partly because of all the propaganda he saw surrounding the occasion.

"We certainly do have to remember the people who've died throughout and around the world," he said. "There may come a time when we try to defend ourselves from terrorism. This isn't it."

Contact Gordon Dritschilo at gordon.dritschilo@rutlandherald.com.