The corner of University Boulevard and Ironwood Court was louder than usual Tuesday as drivers showed their support for the Iraq Campaign demonstration.

The Iraq Campaign is part of the national organizations Americans Against Escalation in Iraq, whose slogan – “Iraq War, Wrong Way” – prompted drivers to honk at the demonstrators.

Sue Dinsdale, of Huxley, is the Iowa field director of Americans Against Escalation in Iraq and was accompanied by Jeremy Jansen and Everett Fell, both field organizers for the campaign.

Dinsdale said she’d never done this type of campaign in this area but her organization has done bigger rallies in the Ames area.

This particular gathering was focused on Rep. Tom Latham, R-Iowa, and they had a banner urging him to support troop withdrawal from Iraq.

“We decided this would be a good place to do a rally,” Dinsdale said. “I’m just hoping he’ll realize that people in Iowa want to end this war.”

When asked about the cacophony of honking that punctuated the air, Jansen said they’d had a lot of positive reaction.

“We don’t have a lot of people who don’t support us, period,” Jansen said.

He also said because recent polls have shown that American popular opinion is against the war in Iraq, Latham should pay attention to that.

“I think it shows how out of touch he is with his constituents,” Jansen said.

Sue Dinsdale has a very personal connection to this issue.

“I’m involved because my son has served two tours of duty in Iraq and he is 100 percent supportive of what I’m doing,” Dinsdale said. “I see what it does to families, I see what it’s doing to Iowans, and it needs to end.”

Dinsdale said her organization is asking for a “responsible redeployment of troops.” She said they were not foreign policy experts and there are people in Washington who could figure out the best move.

“We want Representative Latham to let them know, and let the president know, we aren’t going to continue blindly down this path of this endless, reckless war,” Dinsdale said.

Jansen broke in and said they were also opposed to the rhetoric about winning or losing the war.

“You can’t simplify, you can’t confuse the people,” Jansen said. “When you say, ‘Support the troops, win the war,’ well, I ask people, ‘What is victory?’

“A lot of our best messengers are veterans – Jim Jorgensen was a veteran who was here today. At almost all of our events we have veterans who come and speak.”

Other people at the event were Tony Jeffries, ISU alumnus and affiliate of student organization A Time For Peace, and Jeff Hall, of Ames.

Everett Fell said the war and the policies were the wrong direction for America and that was why the organization was out lobbying.

Dinsdale said the group is nonpartisan and doesn’t endorse any candidate.