COUNTYWIDE : Peace Group to Meet on War Parade Day

A pacifist coalition in Orange County has scheduled a meeting featuring a speaker critical of the Persian Gulf War for May 18, the same Saturday as the county’s official victory parade celebrating U.S. military success in the war.

“We thought more information about the war needed to be disseminated, and yes, we were trying to get a session for the same weekend” as the victory parade, said Marion Pack, spokeswoman for the Orange County Coalition for Peace and Justice.

Pack said Orange County peace groups have no plans for an organized protest at the victory parade, which will be held at 11 a.m. on May 18 along Alton Parkway in Irvine near the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.

Instead, she said, the pacifist coalition and the group Witness for Peace will meet at 7:30 p.m. that day at the Unitarian Church at 1120 W. Santa Ana St. in Anaheim. The speaker will be free-lance journalist Ed Griffin-Nolan, who will talk on “The Human Costs of War.” Griffin-Nolan, who is based in New York, recently returned from Iraq and will present a video on bomb damage in Iraq.

A coalition news release also said that Griffin-Nolan will “share information on the destruction of facilities and the breakdown of services in Baghdad caused by the United States.”

Pack said the coalition wanted “to give another side” to the Gulf War by having a speaker critical of U.S. policy.

“We felt it most appropriate to hold an educational forum on the Mideast to present information that has not been made available to the public,” Pack said. “There is a gap in information as to what the real situation is in Iraq.”

The May 18 meeting and Griffin-Nolan’s talk are open to the public. Pack said a $5 donation is suggested, but “no one will be turned away for lack of funds.”