Students and faculty silently expressed strong reactions to U.S. military involvement in Iraq with signs and dress
While the Bush administration tries to fend off accusations that the United States went to war based on false information, a local military officer is addressing those issues in the Baton Rouge area.
Lt. Col. David Couvillon, a 1982 University graduate and member of the Marine’s Third Battalion and 23rd Regiment, served as the appointed military governor of the southeastern Iraqi province of Wassit from April to September.
Couvillon said he and his Marines – like former head UN weapons inspector David Kay announced last week – found no assembled weapons of mass destruction. He said his regiment found only ingredients that could have been used to make the weapons.
But, Couvillon’s Marines found mass graves – enough for him to believe Saddam Hussein used weapons of mass destruction some time in the past.
A lack of concrete evidence of weapons of mass destruction is not enough to convince Couvillon his actions in Iraq were not needed, though.
“My country may have been wrong to start it,” he said to an assembly Tuesday night. “But I really made a difference in a lot of people’s lives.”
Since his return to his home in Brusly – across the Mississippi River from Baton Rouge – Couvillon has spoken formally to organizations and informally in conversations with community members.
The International Studies Program coordinated a lecture and discussion with Couvillon for the University Tuesday night in the Union Vieux Carre Room. This was the first speech of the semester in the program’s speaker series.
The Marine lieutenant colonel told a group of more than 80 people about his experiences reopening public schools, distributing food and setting up sanitation systems for the 1.2 million Wassit residents. These government services had been missing in Iraq during what Couvillon called “years of oppression” during Hussein’s regime.
Members of the University community entered the room with different reasons for attending.
A female student who attended for a class carried a notebook with “Anthropology” handwritten on the cover. A silent man held up a sign on a stake that said “Bring home the troops” – with “home” in bold lettering.
Soldiers wearing camouflage fatigues in three shades of green lined the back wall of the Vieux Carre Room.
The differences for attending seemed to be as numerous and diverse as the differences in opinion among the speaker and attendees about U.S. military action in the Middle Eastern nation.
University community members began discussing the speech a week before it happened, which drew public objections from some.
Posted fliers for the event included the speech’s location, date and time and the statement “People in Iraq Appreciate Us!”
But, passersby added other phrases to the signs, such as “Especially those whose sons we have killed” and “Liar.” Someone also wrote an incorrect time and date for the event.
Despite the objections, Couvillon reflected favorably on military action in Iraq during his speech.
“I told my soldiers, ‘We are not here as conquerors,'” he said. “‘We are here as liberators.'”
Couvillon said he ordered the Marines under his supervision not to use intimidation during their occupation of Wassit.
He said he wanted the focus to be on children’s needs, not only because children were in greatest need of government assistance, but because their parents would be more trusting if they saw the U.S. military cared about children.
For most Iraqis, “innovation and initiative were foreign concepts,” Couvillon said.
Many would ask for “permission” to do daily activities that seem commonplace to most Americans adults – going to work, selling and buying goods. They simply were not allowed to do these things without government supervision and scrutiny during Hussein’s reign, Couvillon said.
“They [Iraqis] are genuinely appreciative of what the United States has done for them,” he said. “We’ve gotten rid of a monster.”
Some members of the audience agreed with Couvillon’s perspective, but others raised views in stark contrast.
John Hansen, a former Air Force member and a history and geography junior, said he was opposed to U.S. military intervention in Iraq because it was based on “a perceived threat” rather than a real one.
“Now that I’m out and have the ability to criticize, that’s what I’m doing,” he said.
Cameron Baggerman, an international marketing junior who served in the Marines under Couvillon’s command, said he was skeptical when he first got to Iraq.
“Now that I’m back the whole idea is different,” he said. “We understand what we did was necessary.”
Meaghen Couvillon, the lieutenant colonel’s daughter and an anthropology sophomore, told the Reveille in August that she was proud of her father’s military action in Iraq.
But, Tuesday she she was just glad he is home.
“I’ve noticed a couple of changes,” Meaghen said. “We try to be closer now than before.”
Lt. Col. Couvillon said he has learned how to deal with opposition to his perspective on military intervention, and that he also is glad to be with his family again.
“I get to see my kids – we talked on e-mail before,” he said. “Now I get to get a hug now and then – or a kiss.”