[lit-ideas] Re: David Corn exposes ANSWER
- From: Robert Paul <robert.paul@xxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 24 Sep 2005 20:52:11 -0700
Antiwar Fervor Fills the Streets
Demonstration Is Largest in Capital Since U.S. Military Invaded Iraq
By Petula Dvorak
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 25, 2005; A01
Tens of thousands of people packed downtown Washington yesterday and
marched past the White House in the largest show of antiwar sentiment in
the nation's capital since the conflict in Iraq began.
The demonstration drew grandmothers in wheelchairs and babies in
strollers, military veterans in fatigues and protest veterans in
tie-dye. It was the first time in a decade that protest groups had a
permit to march in front of the executive mansion, and, even though
President Bush was not there, the setting seemed to electrify the crowd.
Signs, T-shirts, slogans and speeches outlined the cost of the Iraq
conflict in human as well as economic terms. They memorialized dead U.S.
troops and Iraqis, and contrasted the price of war with the price of
recovery for areas battered by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Riffs on
Vietnam-era protests were plentiful, with messages declaring, "Make
Levees, Not War," "I never thought I'd miss Nixon" and "Iraq is Arabic
for Vietnam." Many in the crowd had protested in the 1960s; others
weren't even born during those tumultuous years.
Protest organizers estimated that 300,000 people participated, triple
their original target. D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey, who walked
the march route, said the protesters achieved the goal of 100,000 and
probably exceeded it. Asked whether at least 150,000 showed up, the
chief said, "That's as good a guess as any.
"It's their protest, not mine. It was peaceful -- that's all I care
about," Ramsey said.
The protesters rallied at the Ellipse, then marched through a misty
drizzle around the White House and along Pennsylvania Avenue NW. The
crowd thinned as events continued into the evening with a concert on the
grounds of the Washington Monument that featured Joan Baez and other
performers, along with antiwar speeches.
The police presence along the demonstration's route seemed more relaxed
than at recent protests, although D.C. police and U.S. Park Police had
hundreds of officers in place to deal with potential trouble. Police
said a construction fence was torn down and a newspaper box damaged, but
they reported no injuries or major problems. They said three people were
arrested -- one on a charge of destruction of property, one on a charge
of attempted theft and one on a charge of disorderly conduct.
More than 200 counter-demonstrators set up outside the FBI building on
Pennsylvania Avenue, and some back-and-forth yelling occurred as the
antiwar marchers moved past. "Shame on you! Shame on you!" one
counter-protester shouted at the antiwar group. Several dozen officers
stood between the two groups, and no trouble erupted, police said.
Some organizations supporting the war in Iraq plan to demonstrate today
on the Mall.
Antiwar groups staged smaller rallies yesterday in Los Angeles, San
Francisco, Seattle, London, Rome and other cities. In Washington, the
events were sponsored by groups including the ANSWER Coalition and
United for Peace and Justice and focused on a succinct theme: "End the
War in Iraq and Bring the Troops Home Now."
Roughly 147,000 U.S. troops are in Iraq. Since the war began in March
2003, 1,911 U.S. members of the military have been killed and 14,641
have been wounded.
The protest groups helped organize caravans and carpools, and many
participants began arriving early in the morning after bumpy, all-night
bus rides.
Leslie Darling, 60, came from Cleveland with four friends and said it
was her first antiwar protest. She said she was moved by what happened
after Hurricane Katrina.
"It made clear that while we spend all this money trying to impose our
will on other countries, here at home in our own country, we can't take
care of each other," she said.
When the bus coming from Kalamazoo, Mich., pulled up to Freedom Plaza on
Pennsylvania Avenue, Sister Maureen Metty, 56, stretched her legs and
prepared for a brand-new experience.
"There were 250 sisters who wanted to be here today, but I'm the one
they chose to send," she said. She carried a sign that read "Sisters of
St. Joseph's for Peace," a folding stool and a backpack with snacks, her
toothbrush and toothpaste. She snapped a flurry of pictures for the
sisters back home, took a deep breath and headed into the crowd.
People came to the Mall and Ellipse in waves. Organizers said that
several thousand never got there because of an Amtrak breakdown on the
New York-to-Washington line in the morning. Others who took Metro faced
delays because of repairs on the Yellow and Blue lines.
Once protesters arrived, they joined throngs headed toward the rally on
the Ellipse, which featured numerous speakers, including the Rev. Jesse
L. Jackson, actress Jessica Lange and Cindy Sheehan, the California
woman who drew thousands of demonstrators to her 26-day vigil outside
Bush's Crawford, Tex., ranch last month and was the inspiration for many
protesters yesterday. Her son, Casey, 24, was killed in Iraq last year.
"This is amazing!" Sheehan said. "You're part of history."
Some of the biggest applause went to someone not even on the program.
Adam Hathaway, an 8-year-old who became lost while mingling in the
crowds. Before he was separated from his mother, Adam was showing people
his jar of pennies and proclaiming that "President Bush is taking lots
of this and using it in the war."
Several announcements were made seeking help in finding the blond boy
from Maine. He was reunited with his mother, Julia Hathaway, as the
crowd cheered.
Bush was not around to hear the protesters filing past the White House.
He spent the day at command centers in Texas and Colorado, where he
assessed Hurricane Rita recovery efforts. Vice President Cheney was
undergoing surgery at George Washington University Hospital to treat
aneurysms on the back of his knees.
Bush and Cheney were depicted on posters, T-shirts and in makeshift
costumes. Several demonstrators wore masks of Bush's likeness and prison
jumpsuits. They were often asked to pose for photographs.
Many protesters said they had opposed the action in Iraq all along but
were emboldened to demonstrate after polls showed that a majority of
Americans disapprove of Bush's handling of the war.
The masses on the street served up a broad cross section of the United
States by age, geography religion and ethnic group. The Raging Grannies,
Presbyterians for Peace, Portuguese Against Bush and a group of Quakers
were there. The Buddhist Peace Delegation took up most of 14th Street NW
with its golden banner that read: "May all beings be safe and free from
anger, fear, greed, dilution and all ill being."
Protest organizers made special note of military participants in the
antiwar effort.
Army 1st Sgt. Frank Cookinham, with a Special Forces patch on one
shoulder, scorpion tattoos crawling across the back of his neck and
"LOCO" permanently inked on his Adam's apple stands out in most crowds.
He was pretty uncomfortable yesterday.
"I've never done this before, but here I am, in uniform, figuring this
is the only way I can shove it to Bush," said Cookinham, of Newport,
R.I., a Persian Gulf War veteran who recently returned from a second
tour in Iraq. "This war makes no sense."
Marching past the Treasury Building, Steven Olsen, 57, and his wife,
Brenda, 49, of Yonkers, N.Y., held signs bearing a photo of their son,
an Army Reserve sergeant sent to Iraq after enrolling in medical school.
"I hear from him about once a month," said Brenda as her husband gently
waved a placard that said, "Proud of my soldier: Ashamed of this war."
Staff writers Karlyn Barker, Jo Becker, Susan Levine, David Nakamura,
Robert E. Pierre, Amit R. Paley and Del Quentin Wilber contributed to
this report.
© 2005 The Washington Post Company
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Trotskyite dupes, all of them. Those Presbyterians are the worst of the
lot. Glad M. A. set us straight.
Robert Paul, West Coast Editor
The New Alarmist
Lake Oswego OR
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