As George W. Bush's national security advisor, Condoleezza Rice, made a campaign speech justifying the Iraq War in the first floor auditorium of Carnegie Mellon University's College of Fine Arts on Oct. 21, about a dozen people hung banners from the college roof's skylights four stories above, reading "LIBERATION? 13,200+ IRAQI CIVILIAN DEATHS," "HELLO CONDOLEEZZA. GOODBYE BILL OF RIGHTS" and "CONDI, DO 1000+ U.S. DEATHS EQUAL SECURITY?" One of the activists -- not all CMU students, and not all local -- who helped design, paint and hang the banners (and who requested anonymity) says the group objects to "the deception" of an administration, particularly Rice herself, who claimed not be aware of the danger of Osama bin Laden striking America, despite explicit presidential briefings. That, and the botched 2000 election prompted the group's action, says the activist: "It's this combination of lies that really struck me -- and I am opposed to the war in Iraq." At the e-mailed request of a CMU official, the group removed the banners later that afternoon.
