Massive Washington march demands end to war in Iraq

[ermitonto]

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/se...wash-s26.shtml
Hundreds of thousands of people poured through the streets of Washington on Saturday in a march called to demand the immediate withdrawal of all US troops from Iraq. The march, the largest seen in the US capital since the invasion in March 2003, was swelled by both mounting opposition to the illegal war and outrage over the Bush administrationâ??s gross neglect and indifference toward the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Organizers of the demonstration put the crowd at 300,000, while Washingtonâ??s chief of policeâ??which routinely underestimates numbers in anti-government protestsâ??freely acknowledged that more than 100,000 had participated.

Thousands began marching on their own, filing past the White House, before what was supposed to be the leading delegation set out from an opening rally at the Ellipse. While the march began at about 12:30 p.m., demonstrators were still clogging the cityâ??s streets after 5 oâ??clock, hours after a concluding rally opposite the Washington Monument had begun.

Cindy Sheehan, whose 24-year-old son Casey was killed in Iraq last year, received the warmest response of any of those who addressed the rallies. Her month-long vigil at â??Camp Casey,â?� set up near Bushâ??s ranch last month to demand an end to the war and press the US president to meet with her, was widely seen as emblematic of the growth of mass popular opposition to the war.

â??We need a peopleâ??s movement to end this war,â?� she told the crowd. â??My good friends in the media arenâ??t doing their job. Most of our friends in Congress arenâ??t doing their jobs, and George Bush certainly isnâ??t doing his job. So you know what? We have to do our job.... Weâ??ll be the checks and balances on this out-of-control criminal government.â?�

She said she intended to challenge Congress: â??How many more of other peopleâ??s kids are you willing to sacrifice for the lies.... Shame on you for giving him the authority to invade.â?�

While a few of the other speakers referred briefly to the failure of the Democratic Party to oppose the war, the main message from the platform was to pressure Congress and the Democrats and look to the partyâ??s future electoral victories as a solution to the war and social crisis.

Most explicit in this regard was Jesse Jackson, who twice sought the Democratic presidential nomination. â??When we march, things change,â?� he told the crowd. â??Weâ??ll change Congress in 2006. Weâ??ll take back the White House in 2008.â?�

How the success of a party that has voted some $200 billion for the warâ??and many of whose principal leaders have advocated sending even more troopsâ??would spell an end to the carnage in Iraq was not explained.

Not a single prominent figure from the Democratic Party made an appearance at the rally. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney of Georgia, who was previously hounded out of her House seat with the tacit support of the Democratic leadership, was the only elected official to address the march.

Among the marchers, hostility to both big-business parties was widely expressed. Many said that this was their first demonstration. They were moved to act by the horrors in Iraq and New Orleans as well as the failure of any section of the political establishment to oppose war abroad and social reaction at home.

A group of New Orleans evacuees participated in the demonstration, one carrying a sign reading â??Katrina survivor, FEMA victim.â?�

Many other marchers carried homemade signs drawing the connection between the Iraq war and the governmentâ??s policy in New Orleans. Their messages included: â??Make levees, not humvees,â?� â??Relief, not war,â?� â??Baghdad burns, New Orleans sinks, Halliburton profits,â?� and â??Stop the hurricane of poverty & war.â?�

[align=center]Families of slain, veterans speak out[/align]

Also participating in the march were significant contingents of families of soldiers killed in Iraq or deployed there, as well as veterans of the war.

One of the mothers of slain US soldiers participating in the demonstration was Elaine Johnson, whose son, Specialist Darius Jennings, was killed in Iraq on November 2, 2003. He was one of 16 who died when their Chinook helicopter was shot down near Fallujah. Most of those killed were soldiers being flown out of Iraq for rest and recreation.

â??There were four soldiers from the same area as my hometown killed in a short time, and Darius was one of them,â?� she said. â??This has been a great loss for the community and has hit hard, because a lot of young men go into the military.â?� Three graduates of Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School (South Carolina), where Darius went to school, were killed in Iraq in the space of just three months.

Ms. Johnson, who works at an industrial plant in the Orangeburg area, spoke out immediately after her sonâ??s death, questioning why US troops remained in Iraq. She publicly challenged Bush a week after he was killed, questioning why he could come to South Carolina for a $2,000-a-plate Republican fundraiser, but could not bother to contact her and offer his condolences.

â??I forced the president to meet with us,â?� she said. But when the meeting finally did come, it provided no solace.

â??I asked him why soldiers like my son were still dying in Iraq, and he said â??to finish the mission,â?? â?� she recalled. â??I asked what the mission was, but he was already leaving the room.â?�

One thing about the meeting with the president offended her deeply. Bush had given each of the bereaved families a presidential coin, she said. As he walked out the door he made the sarcastic comment, â??Now donâ??t go selling those on eBay.â?�

â??That was not the right thing to say to families who had just lost their children,â?� she said. â??As far as I am concerned, he can have that coin back, because I donâ??t want it.â?�

Darius had joined the military with the aim of using his benefits to get a college education. â??My son was all right with the military,â?� Ms. Johnson said. â??He didnâ??t understand why they went to war in Iraq. But he will always be a bigger man than the president and those around him, because he served and didnâ??t run and hide like they did.â?�

Joining the contingent of Iraq war veterans, many wearing their desert combat fatigues, was Harvey Tharp, from Cincinnati, who resigned from the US Navy last November after nine years in the military.

â??I got out because of my opposition to the war in Iraq,â?� he said. â??Basically, I reached the point where I understood that there was no real possibility of positive change coming from our military presence there.â?�

Tharp, who was a Navy lieutenant and had worked as a judge advocate, was sent to Kirkuk as an advisor to local reconstruction projects. He described the situation as marred by chaos and corruption, with the main objective that of establishing US domination.

â??A lot of the US personnel there were absolutely in above their heads,â?� he said. â??They were grabbing anyone who had ever studied Arabic and sending them over to take charge of things that they knew little or nothing about.â?�

â??They had no plan of any kind as to what they were going to do once the war was over,â?� Tharp added. â??One thing became clear to me thoughâ??they had no real intention of ever leaving Iraq, of ever allowing the Iraqis real sovereignty and self determination.â?�

Those participating in the march had come from the entire East Coast, from Maine to Florida, along with sizeable delegations from the Mid-Atlantic states and even the Midwest.

[align=center]Anger over Katrina response[/align]

Dauwd and Jinaki Hasan had come from Greensboro, North Carolina.

â??We came up here because itâ??s time for the American people to exercise their First Amendment right and stand up against everything that is going on, especially after the Katrina disaster,â?� Jinaki said. â??If homeland security was their priority as they claimed, we should have seen a well-oiled machine during the hurricane. We didnâ??t see that. We saw incompetence and failure, and that tells me that there is something really wrong.

â??I fear for American democracy,â?� she added. â??The Democrats are equally involved hereâ??silence equals consent. The Democratic Party has failed the people for their responsibility to keep the government in check. We have no checks and balances. They feed the flames of ignorance and poverty just as the Republicans do.

â??They are all really creating the conditions of poverty and then blaming the impoverished for their problems. The war and the rebuilding of New Orleans are not coming from their pockets. I say, how much more can they cut? What other programs can they cut? Thereâ??s nothing left.â?�

Speaking of the growing divide between rich and poor in America,â?� Dauwd added, â??I canâ??t understand why they want to accumulate so much wealth. The way I like to put it is they get all they can, they put it in the can, and they sit on the can. Then they say that it will all trickle down. How much is going to trickle really? And anyway, it shouldnâ??t trickle, it should flow.â?�

Jerry Riverston from Florida works as a geographer in land rights issues for indigenous people in Central America.

â??My conscience brought me here today,â?� he said. â??I want to see the US pulled out of Iraq. The war and Hurricane Katrina have fulfilled things that I have been anticipating for a long time. With the hurricane, a nexus of things came togetherâ??global warming, a government that doesnâ??t care about the poor, dependence on oil and so on. Katrina brought to light what the governmentâ??s priorities are and also that there are so many people living on the edge of a precipice in this country.

â??I feel that my views are evolvingâ??Iâ??ve been coming around since the last election as it now seems that the Democrats are completely bogus. They defend the same corporate capitalist system. I really feel angry and betrayed. I would really like to see people get angrier and stop being fooled by the corporate media and to start thinking critically.

â??The war in Iraq is fundamentally about oil. It reflects civilizationâ??s dependence on fossil fuels and a country that is fighting to control it. Itâ??s genocidal and hideous. I was not surprised about September 11thâ??it was impressive, but not a shock. The policies of the American government in the Middle East have stirred and angered so many people that it was almost inevitable. And I wonâ??t be surprised about more wars launched competing for dwindling resources. But I think that we have the power to shape things in the future by building a movement and analyzing the situation properly.â?�

Pam, from southern Maine, lived in New Orleans for several years. She said that her â??consciousness has been splitâ?� recently between the tragedy in New Orleans and the war in Iraq. It is the â??most vulnerable people who pay the price for this administrationâ??s version of democracy, in which very few people profit except for the very top of the food chain. This is a false democracy, for large corporations and wealthy,â?� she said.

The West Coast of the US also saw some of the biggest demonstrations since the war began. In San Francisco, an estimated 50,000 marched from Dolores Park to Jefferson Square Park.

More than 15,000 marched through downtown Los Angeles on Sunday, beginning in the garment sweatshop district south of downtown, passing City Hall and ending at a rally in front of the federal building. Among the protesters were actors and musicians, and students from Los Angeles area community colleges, California State University campuses and UCLA. There were also contingents of city and municipal workers, nurses and teachers, as well as veterans against the war.

In Seattle, Washington, as many as 7,000 marched to the Henry M. Jackson Federal Building and then back to Westlake Park.

ermitonto Reviewed by ermitonto on 09-26-2005. Massive Washington march demands end to war in Iraq http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/sep2005/wash-s26.shtml Hundreds of thousands of people poured through the streets of Washington on Saturday in a march called to demand the immediate withdrawal of all US troops from Iraq. The march, the largest seen in the US capital since the invasion in March 2003, was swelled by both mounting opposition to the illegal war and outrage over the Bush administrationâ??s gross neglect and indifference toward the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Organizers of Rating: 5

[eg420ne]

Yeah, they hardly show the protest on tv kept it away from the sheeple. Im seeing a terroist alert soon. Osama going 2 get u

[Psycho4Bud]

.03% of the U.S. population. Quite the turnout!!!

[ermitonto]

Well, not everybody can give up what they're doing and go to Washington you know. The outrage against this war is bigger than Vietnam. And we're not going to shut up until the government's terrorism campaign ends.

[ermitonto]

Face it. If the US government was really democratic, it would follow the will of the majority of people and oppose the war in Iraq.

http://www.pollingreport.com/iraq.htm

[amsterdam]

there wasnt 100,000 people there,nice try.

what an unorganized gaggle that was,lol,they cant even get their silly message right.a mix of anarchists,socialists,commies,gay groups,anti-global groups,anti-industry groups,anti gun groups and wannabe palestinians.

what a message indeed!!keep up the good work.we appreciate it.

[hempity]

excellent post

we don't get but a small blurb of news on protests, and then nothing.
Looks like the yanks have a good lid on the news even up here.
To see the same thing happening all over again, just glad i have many young friends who keep me posted, and are willing to stand and speak the truth.
mission my ass, blood for oil is all it will ever be.

â??How many more of other peopleâ??s kids are you willing to sacrifice for the lies.... Shame on you for giving him the authority to invade.â?�

[amsterdam]

heres some noble protesters!

and the nation laughs!!

[pisshead]

pictures at this website too...

http://newstandardnews.net/content/?...em&itemid=2404

Diverse Anti-war Protests Largest in DC Since Vietnam
by Benjamin Dangl (bio) and Brendan Coyne (bio)
Demonstrators from a variety of backgrounds and representing numerous causes came together Saturday by the tens of thousands with a unified message demanding an end to US military involvement in Iraq.

All photographs © Copyright 2005 Benjamin Dangl.

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Washington, DC, Sep 25 - Kicking off three days of actions aimed ultimately at pressuring the US government to pull troops out of Iraq, scores of protesters converged on Washington, DC yesterday for an all-day protest that included an array of speakers, a march past the White House and a concert that lasted well into the early morning hours. Estimates of the demonstrationâ??s size ranged from 100,000 to 300,000 protesters.

Participants from across the country spent long hours riding overnight on buses and in caravans to take part in the largest anti-war event the nationâ??s capitol has seen since the Vietnam War era. Groups began assembling on the Ellipse in front of the White House early yesterday.

In preparation for the event, police blanketed the Ellipse, Federal Triangle and the grounds of the Washington Monument with a confusing maze of orange-plastic and wooden fences, closing many roads to both automobile and pedestrian traffic.

Billed by organizers as a rally and march to end the war on Iraq, a variety of groups and causes were represented both by speakers on the stage and in the crowd. Orators and demonstrators alike highlighted the interconnectedness of their causes, and it was clear that different issues had spurred people to attend the protest, though the message was overwhelmingly anti-war.

Ruiz Santiago, 21, a Bronx, New York native studying politics at City College in New York tied his familyâ??s experience in Colombia to the Iraq war.

"Colombia is being used, by companies and Bushâ??s friends, for money, just like Iraq," he said. "The companies and the private military â?? they all donâ??t care about the poor people in Colombia, they just let them die. It is, I think, worse in Iraq because nobody is in charge."

Santiago said this was the first time he visited Washington, and the second time he had participated in a protest, the first being the counter-convention during the Republican Partyâ??s gathering in New York City last September. The enormity of that crowd and the variety of events and people participating there had inspired Santiago to become active in political causes, he said.

The march, which was scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m., did not step off until after 1 oâ??clock, due to the mass of participants. Shortly before 2 p.m., with marchers having made little forward progress, an event organizer told the crowd filling the Ellipse and lining Constitution Avenue that logistical problems at the front, owing to the number of people in attendance, was keeping the march from rolling.

â??Itâ??s great to come out and see the diversity of people, the diversity of ideas and the goodwill being represented here.â?� --Tim Thomas, union activist
Saturday's demonstrations were spearheaded by a pair of anti-war coalitions, International ANSWER and United for Peace and Justice, though local groups and unaffiliated activists from around the country pitched in to pull off the massive undertaking.

Some demonstrators carried signs and banners addressing economic causes, such as advocating for the victims of Hurricane Katrina and tenants rights. A large contingent marched under the banner of US Labor Against War. The idea that the Bush administrationâ??s military ventures are draining much-needed resources on the domestic front was well-represented.

Joan from Baltimore, MD, who originally supported the Iraq war, was attending her first peace demonstration. "This hurricane put me over the edge," she said. "Why are we using the troops in Iraq when we have enough to do in our own country?" She continued: "I thought Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. I thought they were a threat, but we had bad information."

Angela Kelly, who works with Student Peace Action Network, a DC-based group that organizes around anti-war and human rights issues, said, "A lot of students who are plugging into counter-recruitment efforts realize that itâ??s poor people that are being targeted by recruiters and forced into the military." She added, "Katrina has brought a lot of economic justice and racial issues to the forefrontâ?¦, and it adds fire to our movement."

Glen Sandberg, a long-time peace activist, organized a group to come from his home in Gulf Port, Mississippi, where much of the area was destroyed by Katrina. "The way Bush handled the Katrina disaster was another disaster," he said.

Diane Spencer marched with the US Labor Against War contingent. "Seeing all these people today, this is great," she said. "Maybe weâ??ll get somewhere out of this. Maybe all these diverse groups coming together means more than what we see in our own cities and towns," Spencer added, noting that, at the very least, the size of national convergence should encourage local groups to be more active.

Spencer and her cohort Tim Thomas had traveled to Washington on one of two buses from Chicago chartered by three area unions, Service Employees International Union Locals 4 and 20 and United Auto Workers Local 550. Neither protester had previously been very involved in activism outside of union efforts, they said.

"Itâ??s great to come out and see the diversity of people, the diversity of ideas and the goodwill being represented here," Thomas told The NewStandard. "After seeing and being a part of this, weâ??re definitely going to go back and do more anti-war and anti-Bush organizing locally. I think that with labor working with all these other groups to end this war and call the President to account, things can get done."

I hope people learned about things they didnâ??t know about before and gain a better sense of awareness and that people go home and do outreach and organizing work.â?� --Tatiana Lam, high-school student, activist
Kermit Leibensperger, who works two jobs as an electrician and teacher and has been an activist since 1967, is already looking toward the next protest, one he believes will allow people to participate wherever they live, instead of limiting action only to those who can travel for large protests in faraway cities. He is helping organize a nationwide "Rosa Parks Anniversary Strike" against poverty, racism and war on December 1.

"If everyone came who wanted to come to this protest, there would be millions here today," Leibensperger said.

"Iraq has slipped onto the backburner and we felt compelled to do something," said Laurie Sargent, a musician from New Hampshire who was part of "Testy Goyls," a group of mothers, teachers and friends who had banded together for peace vigils and Democratic fundraisers in their home town to protest the Iraq war.

"We had goose bumps all the way down on our trip to DC," said Gail Erdos Belmon, also a member of the group.

The Matriots, from Western Massachusetts, were dressed up in colorful wigs, clothing and jewelry. Group member Sarah Acker explained: "Weâ??re mothers and feminists and we didnâ??t raise our children to be killed in a war. We want to bring the mother-woman balance to the male-dominated world."

The slogan of group, painted on a large sign they carried, declared, "We want for the world what mothers want for their kids."

Tatiana Lam is a high-school student and anti-war organizer who does counter recruitment work in schools. "I hope people learned about things they didnâ??t know about before," she said, "and gain a better sense of awareness and that people go home and do outreach and organizing work."

Along the March route, two members of the National War Tax Resisters Coordinating Committee stood in front of the Internal Revenue Service calling on people to stop supporting the US war machine.

"Watch your pockets, folks, youâ??re passing the IRS," Daniel Woodham, of Greensboro, North Carolina, called as marchers neared the end of the route. He and a colleague, Rob Randall, both of Brunswick, Georgia, handed out flyers directing people to a website with detailed information on war-tax resistance.

A handful of counter-protesters showed up along the route, but they were barely noticeable among the throngs of anti-war activists. Jeremiah Baldwin, of the Open Air Gospel Ministry in Jacksonville, Florida said, "We support the war and the troops and freedom in Iraq, freedom for women to voteâ?¦ weâ??re Christians and we stand up for Jesus, too."

Mobilization for Global Justice, an organization of activists demanding an end to the World Bank and IMFâ??s economic policies, organized a feeder march from Dupont Circle under the banner, "Another World is Under Construction." The feeder march, scheduled to leave Dupont circle at 12:30, met up with the main anti-war demonstration later in the afternoon.

Participants made the connection between the Iraq war and the policies of the World Bank and the IMF, which are actively involved in transforming modern Iraq. Virginia Setsheti of the Anti-Privatization Forum in South Africa told InterPress Service, "It is not just about war. It is about how many people die around the world because of unfair policies and actions â?? a large part of which are economic. "

Law enforcement officials declined to provide official crowd estimates but DC Police Chief Charles Ramsey noted that organizers had probably met their goal of attracting 100,000 people to the event. Organizers put the number at about 300,000. The spread-out nature of the demonstration made a crowd estimate difficult.

Today, organizers planned interfaith services, town hall-style meetings, workshops and vigils. With politicians scheduled to be working in the nationâ??s capitol Monday, groups are planning non-violent direct action and lobbying.

[amsterdam]

thats why those groups are a laughing stock now.

oh yea,sheehan just got arrested today.