Send us to Iraq, say grannies

2005-07-22 22:01

Tucson - A group of anti-war senior citizens calling themselves the "Tuscon Raging Grannies" say they want to enlist in the US Army and go to Iraq so that their children and grandchildren can come home.

Five members of the group - which is associated with the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom - are due in court on Monday to face trespassing charges after trying to enlist at a military recruitment centre last week.

The group has protested every week for the last three years outside the centre.

"We went in asking to be sent to Iraq so our kids and grandchildren can be sent home, but rather than listening to us, they called the police," said 74-year-old Betty Schroeder. "It was their place to tell us the qualifications, but they wouldn't even speak to us. They should've said, 'You're too old.'"

Approach

Schroeder said her group may approach the Pentagon to see if they could be sent to Iraq.

Nancy Hutchinson, spokesperson at the Army recruiting headquarters in Phoenix, which oversees Tucson's recruiters, said people who disagree with the war should be contacting their legislators instead of bothering recruiters.

"They need to direct their frustrations at people who have the power to change things," Hutchinson said. "Recruiters don't make policy and they can't change policy. They have a job to do and they are following orders."

Schroeder said she hopes the trespassing charges will be dropped and an apology given to the group from Tucson police and from the recruiters.

"This was not a performance, a joke or civil disobedience," she said. "This was an enlistment attempt."

- SAPA