In response to the strained political climate and the growing threat of war between the United States and Iraq, members of the Eastern community will gather at 1 p.m. Saturday at Old Main to protest President George Bush’s cry for war.

Teachers, students and Charleston residents are invited to come together at the flagpole in front of Old Main for the protest.

Speakers and live music are expected to be part of the protest as participants march down seventh street to the east side of the Courthouse. After listening to speakers and music at Old Main and on the Square, organizers said participants will eventually return to campus.

“All of Charleston is expected to attend, some 25,000 people,” Roy Lanham, campus minister, said

Organizers of this protest have been holding weekly peace vigils at the Library Quad since Oct. 6, 2002 which marks the one-year anniversary of the U.S. bombings in Afghanistan. Currently, about 15 to 30 people show up to the weekly peace vigil, Lanham said.

The purpose of the weekly vigils and the upcoming demonstration is to protest the seemingly inevitable war with Iraq. The people involved are opposed to U.S. military intervention and Bush’s stance on Iraq, a press release stated.

“It’s wrong. Our president and members of his Cabinet have been beating the drum of war,” Lanham said. “There is no reason to put our soldiers and the Iraqi people in harm’s way.”

The rally organizers said they feel as members of the free world, they have the right and responsibility to speak out against what they consider to be wrong.

Robert Barford, event organizer, said the Iraqi people “already have a monster there -Saddam Hussein.”

“How many do we have to keep killing? There is no evidence to date that suggests a military strike is essential in Iraq,” Barford said.

He said the possible military strike will only infuriate people around the world, most notably, people in Muslim nations.

“Bush is just getting people in a state of fear so that he can have more support from the American public,” he said.

He said he is convinced that Bush’s reiteration of the “dangers of Iraq” are a political ploy, and “definitely an oil thing.”

Convinced that the possible war with Iraq may lead to another recurrence similar to that of the Vietnam War, Barford compared the fear initiated by former President Lyndon B. Johnson that escalated the Vietnam War to Bush’s current pleas to the public about Iraq’s supposed weapons of mass destruction.

“The purpose of the protest is not to trash people, after all, this is a democracy,” he said. “We’re just putting out our opinion. Everyone had their say.”

Barford hopes to organize more protests such as the one this Saturday. He wants to spread out to places where there are large congregations of people, such as churches.

“People don’t have to listen, but it’s a democracy so we’re going to express our views,” Barford said.

“Come to hear what we have to say. There are different and better ways to approach this. It doesn’t have to be war and violence,” he said.