Iraq vets spur debate at Anti-War lecture

On Wednesday night an event held by the UB Anti-War Action in Knox Hall was supposed to feature keynote speaker Sgt. Mark LeChance from Iraq Veterans Against the War. When he didn't show, two other Iraq vets jumped up to fill in.

Their message, however, was not one that the crowd had come expecting to hear.

"As encouraged as I am to see such groups of students who take such heart into being politically minded," said Sgt. Brian Haggerty, "I think it's important to understand that by soliciting veterans to comment, you're undermining the constitutional balance that we have where the armed forces willingly subordinate themselves to civilian control."

The meeting was transformed into a lively debate between the two Iraq vets and the audience as people in the audience challenged the troops on topics ranging from military recruitment to the status of conscientious objectors.

Those in attendance took varying stances on the role of the troops: some strived for a greater understanding of Haggerty's point of view while others took a more aggressive stance.

Sophia Azeb, a co-founder of UB Anti-War Action, repeatedly interjected the idea that "war isn't helping anything."

Controversy on the war overall aside, Haggerty and his friend kept to the original message on the role of soldiers.

"We're not here to tell you that what we're doing is wrong, or what we're doing is right," he said. "We just do it."

After some in the audience called on the vets saying that they were being manipulated, Haggerty and his friend somewhat sarcastically dealt with inquiries to their status as UB students.

"We managed to get in here with the four brain cells we have," he said.

In the end, everyone seemed to be satisfied with the debate to some degree. Haggerty said that it was good to see people passionate about something "rather than sitting at home watching 'Wheel of Fortune'."

Azeb similarly said that she was "actually more pleased, because it was a chance for a group of anti-war individuals to hear someone speak that... did not agree with our program here."