Bringing the War Home

Laura Hanna and Astra Taylor in The Nation:

Pointing imaginary guns and roughing up “Iraqi civilians”, a group of antiwar veterans brought the realities of the Iraq debacle to Manhattan, in a Memorial Day protest that briefly turned the streets of the city into a combat zone. In “Operation First Casualty,” a half-dozen members of Iraq Veterans Against the War employed the tactics of street theater to stage mini-dramas in Times Square, Union Square and the World Trade Center site, simulating sniper fire and staging mock arrests of fellow protesters who portrayed Iraqis. The group plans to take Operation First Casualty to the streets of Chicago June 17.