PROVO — Former Democratic candidate Pete Ashdown questioned the justice of the Iraq war, speaking to about 50 people gathered outside U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch's office Friday night in Provo.

The people gathered on International Peace Day in protest of the Iraq war and to call on Utah representatives to vote to bring the troops home. The event was sponsored by two groups, Mormons for Equality and Social Justice and Radical Action Against War.

"America should only fight wars that are just," said Ashdown, who campaigned against Hatch as a Democratic candidate in 2006. "This war is devoid of justice."

Ashdown also expressed frustration that the U.S. Senate earlier Friday struck down a proposal to bring most American soldiers back from Iraq within nine months. He was disappointed that the Senate vote was almost split along party lines.

"I wish people would get past party lines," he said. "I feel there's a lack of courage. I also think there's a lack of compromise."

Ashdown said he has often heard people compare the struggle in Iraq to World War II. He told the crowd that 65 million people died worldwide before that war ended. He said he fears the Iraq war will also cost millions of lives and financially bankrupt America.

"I, for one, do not want this," he said.

Salt Lake City resident Barton Tippetts, a 60-year-old Vietnam veteran, said nations should not rush to war. "We should have never attacked Iraq under preemptive war doctrine," he said.

William Van Wagenen, a 29-year-old Provo man who was kidnapped in Iraq earlier this year, said he closely watched the Iraq report presented by Gen. David Petraeus and questioned its accuracy.

"General Petraeus is just exaggerating the success in Iraq," he said.

George Muller, a 65-year-old Vietnam veteran, drove to the demonstration from Ogden, towing a trailer with a pair of Army boots on it for each of the 21 Utah soldiers who have died in Iraq.

He encouraged the group of protesters to write their congressmen and demand they vote to bring the troops home.

"What would you wish you had done today if tomorrow 500 more soldiers were killed in one action?" he asked.

---

E-mail: jdana@desnews.com