Thursday, January 20, 2005

Marines stretching movement: Protesting urban warfare in Toledo

Mike Ferner: 'Marines stretching movement: Protesting urban warfare in Toledo'
Posted on Thursday, January 20 @ 10:10:32 EST
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By Mike Ferner
No, this is not a military-oriented guide to keeping fit.  Yet it has made some people uncomfortable if not downright sore.
It's about the peace movement and how a U.S. Marine company using downtown Toledo for "urban warfare" training January 7-8, provided an opportunity for activists to think and act beyond normal limits.
With barely a week's notice, an article in the local paper announced that a weapons company of the 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Reserves would spend a weekend running around our downtown, honing combat skills by firing blanks at imaginary enemies. The North West Ohio Peace Coalition (NWOPC) and local Veterans for Peace (VFP) designed a response, different from what many in the peace movement had seen or that some were even comfortable with.
That response was:....