Miranda Pederson/Daily NewsCory Hampton (bottom left) and Chelsea Garrison (bottom right), both Western Kentucky University freshmen from Frankfort, sing by candlelight Thursday during a vigil for peace at WKU's South Lawn.

A peaceful candlelight vigil to end the war in Iraq brought several dozen people to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bowling Green on Thursday night to sing songs, recite readings and voice their concerns.

The protest, held on the International Day of Peace, sought to accomplish several things, said Christa Gaskill, the church’s social action committee chair: to oppose further pre-emptive war, to increase veterans’ benefits, to establish a timeline for withdrawal of troops from Iraq and to spend the United States’ tax dollars on education and health care rather than on a war.

The Unitarian Universalist church has questioned the morality and legality of the war since it began in 2003, and decided to support the grassroots Declaration of Peace campaign, Gaskill said. The vigil wasn’t a sign of non-support for the nation’s military, she said, but rather a plea that they be brought home safely.

&#8220We do support the troops,” she said. &#8220The truth is, we had no plan going in there and we still don’t.”

Church member Jan Garrett of Bowling Green read a statement he’d prepared about the war, which he said was launched amid misinformation and false claims of weapons of mass destruction.

&#8220I’m here to remind you about things you probably already know,” he said. &#8220This war was launched under highly dubious circumstances.”

So far, the war has taxed the &#8220lives, bodies and sanity of our servicemen and women over the past three-and-a-half years,” and resulted in staggering losses of life for Americans and Iraqis, he said. It also resulted in violations of human rights and dignity, such as the torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, he said, and spawned copycat effects in the Middle East. In addition, it’s increased racial and religious intolerance in our own country, he said.

&#8220As long as the war continues, this virus is not likely to decrease,” he said. &#8220For all these reasons, I say, bring the troops home, and end this war today.”

During a moment of silence near the conclusion of the vigil, Gaskill asked attendees to remember the nearly 2,700 troops who have died, along with the untold number of Iraqi civilians injured or killed.

&#8220Just as important, let us remember our hope for a better and more peaceful world,” she said.

Several attendees spoke out about the war, voicing support for a peaceful world and expressing hope that one day there would be no war.

&#8220We all live under the same sky, regardless of what we look like, what we believe or what we do,” said Susan Hart, a Western Kentucky University student. &#8220This is our home. We are humanity, and we’re all in this together.”

Hart, of Bowling Green, said she was drawn to the Unitarian Universalist Church by its open-mindedness, and thought the candlelight vigil was a peaceful way to bring together the community.

&#8220This was definitely a good forum to let people know there are people who feel the same about global issues,” she said.

Although those at the vigil supported withdrawal of United States troops from Iraq, many were worried about what would happen if Iraqis were left to fend for themselves.

&#8220I’m here because I’m concerned we have a mess, and I want to be counted as someone who sees it,” said Brent Oglesbee of Bowling Green. &#8220I think we’ve done a lot of damage, and I’m not sure how that gets fixed.”

Lia Seran of Bowling Green said she was pregnant when the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, happened, and became concerned about the type of world she was bringing her son into. She’d like to leave the world a better place than she found it, she said, and is worried this country is too quick to jump into conflict.

&#8220I came out tonight because I believe that we went into the war under false pretenses,” she said. &#8220We’ve made a mess of Iraq, in my opinion.”

The goal now is to withdraw U.S. troops without leaving the Iraqi people to fend for themselves – and without allowing another dictator to be put into place, Seran said.

And, even though she knows it’s unlikely, &#8220the idealist in me would still like to see a world where there is peace,” she said.

– For more information on Declaration of Peace, visit www.declarationofpeace.org.