Activists plan rally at Iowa Guard facility

A group of peace activists plans to stage a protest today at the Iowa Air National Guard’s headquarters in Des Moines. Father Frank Cordaro says they’re protesting the Air Guard’s patrol of the no-fly zone over Iraq.Cordaro, who has been arrested repeatedly for his protests of U-S military operations, says only the U-S and Great Britain support the continuation of economic sanctions against Iraq. He says around 300 civilians have been killed in attacks on Iraq by forces defending the “no fly zone.”Last night, “Iowans for Peace with Iraq” heard from a peace activist from Missouri who’s been to Iraq recently.Last March, 90 members of “Iowans for Peace with Iraq” staged a protest at the Iowa Air Guard facility and 22 were arrested for blocking the entrance.The Bush Administration says Iraqi leaders continue to violate terms they agreed to at the end of the Gulf War. For instance, the Iraqis refuse to let international investigators probe factories suspected of manufacturing “weapons of mass destruction.”