Protesters Gather To Oppose War

[sfc_darrel]

Protesters Gather To Oppose War

_____Street Closings_____

The protests will interrupt traffic at times:

? South Capitol Street north of I Street and portions of northbound Washington Avenue SW will be closed until the marchers pass.

? M Street SE between First and 11th streets SE will be closed from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

? Parking will be suspended for much of the day on streets on or near the march route, officials said.

? Metro buses will be detoured. Those affected are 13B, 32, 35, 54, P6, V8, 90 and 92. Check Metro's Web site for more information, www.metroopensdoors.com.

? Graphic of protest routes.



_____Multimedia_____

? Video: Actress Jessica Lange Speaks
? Video: Rev. Al Sharpton Speaks
? Audio: Antiwar Protest Update
? Video: Protesters Hold News Conference
? Video: Ex-Attorney General Ramsey Clarke Speaks Out Against War

_____Protest Routes_____

? Rallying on Iraq: Route for Washington antiwar protests on Jan. 18-19.

_____Related Articles_____

? Marches in World Capitals Oppose Iraq War (Associated Press, Jan 18, 2003)
? 100,000 Expected To Protest Iraq War (The Washington Post, Jan 18, 2003)
? The Antiwar Route (The Washington Post, Jan 18, 2003)
? Antiwar Activists From Across U.S. Preparing for Weekend of Protests (The Washington Post, Jan 13, 2003)
? Activists Bring War Protests to Baghdad (The Washington Post, Jan 14, 2003)

_____Live Online_____

? Discussion Transcript: Assistant Chief of Police Alfred Broadbent talked about the department's protest preparations.
? Upcoming Discussion: Georgetown professor Michael Kazin will discuss the future of the anti-war movement at 1:30 on Jan. 21.


By Ann Marchand
washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
Saturday, January 18, 2003; 1:11 PM


Tens of thousands of people have converged on the National Mall this morning to rally against U.S. military operations in Iraq, and a smaller group also gathered to express support for military action.

The antiwar demonstration is being mirrored by a joint protest in San Francisco, which is expected to draw tens of thousands of people, as well as simultaneous antiwar demonstrations in 32 countries.

The rally is being coordinated by International ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), which led similar events in March and April. Numerous smaller groups from campuses, churches and communities are participating under the ANSWER umbrella.

The rally is being held on the Mall, near Third Street. Scheduled speakers include former U.S. attorney general Ramsey Clark, Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic, who wrote "Born on the Fourth of July"; actress Jessica Lange and former Rep. Cynthia McKinney. The rally will also include performances by Patti Smith and Chumbawumba.

"We don't want this war and we don't want a government that wants this war," said Brenda Stokely, a New York City labor activist.

Activists invoked the nonviolent legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. on the long weekend that marks the civil rights leader's birthday, and booed President Bush, who was at Camp David.

"Mr. Bush hung Dr. King's picture up in the White House last year but he need to hang up Dr. King's words," said the Rev. Al Sharpton, one of the speakers at the rally.

"In Iraq today there are weapons inspectors, but here on the west side of the Capitol are the moral inspectors," he said, referring to the demonstrators. "We're inspecting the immoral policies that said, 'No, we can't find the weapons in Iraq, we want to go to war.'"

More than a dozen buses released protesters at Third Street between Constitution Avenue and Jefferson Street. The people trickling off carried an assortment of signs proclaiming antiwar messages, including "Grandmothers Against War," "Bomb Texas, They Have Oil Too," "Money for Jobs Not War," "Help Stop the Asses of Evil" and "Stop the Bush Death Machine," and even one looking ahead to a protest next week, "Defend Roe v Wage 30 Years."

Shortly after noon, buses were still arriving and demonstrators were spilling out of Metro stations.

After the speeches, protesters will march into Southeast Washington, past the Marine Barracks on Eighth Street en route to the Navy Yard. At the Navy Yard, "street theater" is planned, with some protesters planning to masquerade as weapons inspectors.

Organizers declined to estimate the number of people expected to participate in the Washington march, but Chuck Kaufman, a member of the ANSWER steering committee, said that more buses were expected for this event than a similar one in October, which drew about 100,000 people.

Tony O'Leary, a spokesman for the D.C. police department, said the permit issued for the day's rally indicated 20,000 people would participate.

Hundreds of buses carrying protesters arrived in Washington from numerous destinations on the East Coast and in the Midwest. Three of those came from St. Louis, organized by Rick LaMonica.

LaMonica, 54, chairman of the St. Louis Chapter of the Alliance for Democracy, said 146 people of all ages from Eastern Missouri and Southern Illinois are participating in the protests.

LaMonica said he hopes the protests will accomplish two things: to increase pressure on elected officials who influence foreign policy and to convince people that they aren't alone in opposing the war. Although he said he doubts President Bush will heed the protesters' message, he said he hoped to get the attention of Richard A. Gephardt, who represents the St. Louis area and is the Democratic leader in the House.

Emily Dickson, 20, of Columbus, Ohio, also wasn't sure how much today's rally would accomplish. "One or two rallies might not do anything, but constant protests from a lot of people might do something."

Another passenger on one of the St. Louis buses, Kristin Kumpf, 27, said that although she believes Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is an evil man, the United States is acting hastily in preparing for military engagement.

"War is not the answer. There absolutely has to be some mediation. He does horrible things to his people, but there are other horrible men who do horrible things that we don't worry about" because they don't have oil, she said, referring to the vast fuel reserves in Iraq.

Another bus came from the Bronx, part of a cadre of buses from New York City. The bus from the Coop City neighborhood, organized by Stuart Edwards, 70, brought 35 adults, mostly senior citizens, to protest the war.

Edwards, a Korean War veteran, will be joined by his wife on the trip. He said he plans to also bring a sign reading "No War in Iraq" that is a relic from protests against the Gulf War in 1991.

Murray Beaver is a veteran war protester with the Westchester People's Action Coalition who said he has protested in D.C. two dozen times since civil rights and Vietnam War protests. Commenting on the number of students and young people on the Mall, he said, "Young people are always the most active protesters against war. And they should be: they're the ones who go to war."

Adnan Chaabi, 44, arrived at the protest from Indianapolis, Ind., as a part of a two-bus contingent of 100 people. Chaabi, originally from Syria and a U.S. citizen since 1989, said he has supported President Bush in the past.

"I voted for [Bush]. Had I known he was going to be a war man, I wouldn't have voted for him," Chaabi said, admitting the protest will probably not make a difference to the president. "To me, I'm just clearing my conscious."

Joshua Minor, 21, and Ty Bryant, 21, both juniors at Loyola University in New Orleans, both traveled to the protest on a bus that left New Orleans at 8 a.m. yesterday, arriving this morning at 9:30.

Minor, who described himself as a Christian, said: "I can't say I'm too educated in all of the policies. I just feel this is a profit-based war -- a continuation of what the president's father did" in the first Gulf War.

Minor and Bryant described finding out about the rally and coming to Washington as a miracle. They learned of the rally through an e-mail that was distributed on campus. The e-mail was sent by International ANSWER.

"We were meant to be here," Bryant said.

Some of the protesters had traveled even longer distances. Junichi Matsuo, vice chairman of Zengakuren, the All-Japan Federation of Student Council, flew to Washington from Tokyo with nine other Japanese students for the protest. Matsuo, 26, said that there would be similar antiwar demonstrations in Tokyo today but that he wanted to experience the energy of an American rally.

Other protesters were not affiliated with any groups, but wanted to voice their opposition to military actions in Iraq.

Renea Ryan, 31, drove from outside Fort Campbell, Ky., with three other people. Ryan works as a social worker at the Army base, where the 101st Airborne division is stationed. Many soldiers there have already been activated, she said, and she had seen the way it has hurt families. Ryan, who is not affiliated with any of the hundreds of groups joining today's protest, said that she looked on the Internet for information about opposing the war and stumbled on the ANSWER Web site. Ryan said when she learned of today's protest, she knew that she had to come to Washington to join in.

Ryan arrived yesterday, and was quickly dispatched to help prepare for the rally, helping with scaffolding at the rally site yesterday afternoon. Last night, she was one of about 100 volunteers at the ANSWER headquarters in Southeast Washington assembling thousands of antiwar posters to be distributed today.

Amanda Fiedler, of St. Paul, was also here because of people she knew being sent to the Persian Gulf. She was carrying a sign that said "Bring Home Julio. No War," with a large photo of her friend Julio, a Marine based out of Camp Pendelton, who is on a ship headed to the gulf.

She said, "I'm here to protest sending boys and girls to war. They're my friends."

Not everyone on the Mall today is opposing military involvement in Iraq. A group of counter-protesters assembled about 9 a.m. to demonstrate support for both U.S. troops abroad and Bush's policies toward Iraq.

Kristinn Taylor, a co-leader of Free Republic, a conservative news and activism Web site that helped organize the event, said that 200 to 400 people were expected to turn out for the counter-protest, which is also supported by the D.C. chapter of MOVEOUT (Marines and Other Veterans Engaging Outrageous Un-American Traitors).

Taylor said that the group supports the president's policies toward Iraq because to do nothing "is the enslavement of the Iraqi people and the Iraqi government having weapons of mass destruction."

Kathryn C. Wood, of Burke, Va., a co-leader of Free Republic, said, "We're out here to support the troops. They defend our freedom and our rights."

Wood, whose husband served a year in Vietnam during the war, said during that war, the antiwar voices were the only ones heard and she does not want that to happen again.

"I don't like war, but it's necessary," she said.

Dane Brown, 56, a Vietnam veteran drove from Matthews, Va., to show support for the troops and raise awareness that there's another side of the issue. Brown said it was important for him to attend the rally in support of the troops because when soldiers came back from vietnam they were spit on.

A government employee and member of Free Republic who did not want to give her name said she wanted to stress that they are not war-mongers. "They're not pro war; they're pro disarming saddam," she said, adding that war is a last resort.

Former California congressman Bob Dornan was the keynote speaker at the counter-protest event. Following that rally, supporters of the military will take a break before traveling to the Marine Barracks to await the antiwar protesters' march past that site.

The events will affect downtown traffic and transportation. South Capitol Street north of I Street and portions of northbound Washington Avenue SW will be closed until the marchers pass; M Street SE between First and 11th streets SE will be closed from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Parking will be suspended for much of the day on streets on or near the march route, officials said. Metrobus routes near the protests will be detoured, said Steven Taubenkibel, Metro spokesman. Bus routes that will be affected are 13B, 32, 35, 54, P6, V8, 90 and 92. Passengers can learn specific route information by calling the Metro information line, 202-637-7000, or by visiting www.metroopensdoors.com.

Taubenkibel said that Metrorail is operating on a normal Saturday schedule but that additional trains will be added if crowds surged and demand increased. He said that Metro Transit Police officers would be added to stations near the protests and march route.

washingtonpost.com staff writers Maryan Chilinguerian, Jeffrey Marcus and Kate Schuler have contributed to this report.

Curtis Sliwa of the Guardian Angels speaks in support of military action in Iraq. (AFP)

[nang]

It's amazing that the anti-war protests are the only ones we're really hearing about on TV and radio. I'm not all geaked up about going to war either, but I support our President. I feel it really makes us look weak to the other countries. I'm sure it doesn't help the morale of our troops that are already overseas either.

[sfc_darrel]

After reading the news and posting some here, I shut down the computer and turned on the TV. There is a show about Pahrump, Nevada that I'd never seen before where the top story was about the Traveling Wall being there last week.

Too many tears today.

Time to get myself together. Sailors are coming for the weekend.

Military people that I know don't want war but they know that war is sometimes the only way to freedom. Our country was founded on that ideal.

(highly edited for ranting and tears)

Joy

[reconeil]

I guess that the-bottom-line regarding your posting (all your others relatively on the same subject also) is that things in America just never REALLY change? Unfortunately, such must be due to the fact that we have so many naive (some not so naive) zealots here and so many of their easy to dupe followers. Then too, we permit so many foreign enemy propagandists here to egg-on The Many American Fools alluded to,...which most certainly doesn't help matters (well, for America anyway).

In fact, just look back at Vietnam. Given the millions of enemy dead and the fortunes spent in material by the enemy (NVN, China & USSR),..."They" just couldn't beat us on The Battlefield. Whereas, and given a relative few American Friends, American Cowards, Enemy Collabarators, a multitude of American Dupes and pretty-much chump-changed,..."America's Finest" and/or The U.S. Military were defeated quite soundly right here at home. Truly a shame,...but true.

So, I guess it's fair to surmize that even though Vietnam wasn't really that long ago,...We Americans are sort-of watching history repeat itself. Sure we get better TV coverage nowadays. But, so what? That I as an American be insulted and embarassed by my country's naivete' at dealing with treasonable matters here at home much quicker than before by TV,...is no great consulation.

We better fix things here mucho-quicko,...before we try to fix The World. We're running out of time My Friends and/or Fellow Patriots.

Neil

[sfc_darrel]

Neil,

Check out "Protesters in Washington and Other". The point is that all the usual suspects are protesting the war in very small numbers throughout the world.

That is not what the news is reporting and there are even tidbits in there about support for our troups.

Personal Information

I am too lazy to clear out the cookies and reset each computer every time I want to comment on this site so checking under the member information you will find Darrel and Joy.

Unsigned comments are usually from both of us. We seldom disagree about anything. Signed comments are always from one of us. We sometimes each comment in a single post and each sign a part.

Since I am more inclined to make political comments, you will find me on libertyfiles as DarrelsJoy.

Joy