Veteran talks on conflict

"Tonight, as you can see, we'll be featuring Lt. Colonel - retired - Joe Repya, and he'll be speaking on what's really going on in Iraq."

The words of Josiah Overfors, vice president of SCSU College Republicans, opened a presentation regarding a debate that has enveloped the campus as of late.

Following Wednesday's appearance by anti-war advocate Cindy Sheehan, Repya took an opposite stance 8 p.m. yesterday in the Atwood Glacier Room.

Repya's experiences consist of personal involvement not only in the current Iraq War, but also the first Gulf War and Vietnam.

Although he had been retired when the United States disposed of the regime in Iraq in 2003, he volunteered to return to the armed forces at the age of 59 in 2004.

It was this time in his life an audience of about 40 gathered to hear.

Repya said his work there could be grim, yet served to show the atrocities of Saddam Hussein.

"When I was in Iraq in 2005, we found the 300th mass grave with an estimated over 350,000 Iraqis that had been killed by their own regime over the 40 years Saddam was in charge of that country," he said.

Repya also addressed critics of the Iraq War who point out the lack of electricity in parts of the country.

"What the people who would tell you that aren't telling you is the fact that the demand for electricity today, because they're free and in liberty, is five times what it was," he said.

Part of that liberty is the ability to hold free elections, something Repya said was a sign things are on the right track.

He asked the audience how many voted in the last presidential elections, and nearly all raised their hands.

"How many of you would've gone to the polls if you were told there would be snipers that could shoot at you, car bombs that possibly could go off at the polling station, mortar rounds that could be dropped on you as you waited in line, how many would've thought twice about going to vote?" Repya said, and few raised their hands.

The veteran said despite the risks, nearly 70 percent of those eligible to vote in Iraq did, a sign of progress.

Another issue Repya addressed was comparisons of Iraq to the Vietnam War.

"The war in Vietnam is not like what's happening here (Iraq)," he said.

Part of this has to do with the enemy.

"I have to tell you there is something terribly wrong with people who believe that the only way they can go to heaven is by killing their perceived enemy," he said.

Repya gave the example of an incident where an explosion killed one U.S. soldier, 47 children and seriously injured more than 90 other youngsters.

More violence such as this would be prevalent if the United States suddenly withdrew from Iraq, he said.

Repya talked of an Iraq pulled apart by Syrian-backed Sunni militia, a Turkish invasion of Kurd-dominated northern Iraq and Iranian supported Iraqi Shi'a.

As for the U.S. troops stationed in Iraq now, Repya saw history remembering them as doing the right thing.

"I am convinced at the end of the century, although I may not be around to see it, someone is going to write a book about the greatest generation and it's going to be about the men and women your age that are serving, fighting the front lines on the War on Terror," he said.

As for those, such as Cindy Sheehan, who oppose this conflict and war altogether, Repya said he shares their sentiments, but not exactly in the same way.

"People who hate war the most are the people who fight it," he said.

Often times alongside these people are journalists who report on the war. After a question from the audience about news coverage, Repya said too often the media leave out the everyday good deeds and sacrifice soldiers make in Iraq.

"If it bleeds, it leads," he said.

His Feb. 7 appearance marked the fourth anniversary of the launch of his effort to distribute lawn signs supporting soldiers and the war effort, another item Repya is well-known for.

This effort led to nearly 30,000 lawn signs being distributed around Minnesota, similar to the one in the picture above.

Also, he helped arrange a 20,000-plus pro-Iraq War rally in the Twin Cities in 2003, something that garnered death threats from the peace movement.

Repya said he will soon join Sen. John McCain's presidential bid as national chairman for veteran outreach.

atening phone calls were placed to his home, some of which even constituted the Secret Service getting involved. But these measures did not deter him from returning to Iraq in 2004.