Huge rally against Iraq war

[Jaidness]

Huge rally against Iraq war

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Crowds opposed to the war in Iraq surged past the White House on Saturday, shouting "Peace now" in the largest anti-war protest in the nation's capital since the U.S. invasion.

The rally stretched through the day and into the night, a marathon of music, speechmaking and dissent on the National Mall.

Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey, noting that organizers had hoped to draw 100,000 people, said, "I think they probably hit that."

Speakers from the stage attacked President Bush's policies head on, but he was not at the White House to hear it. He spent the day in Colorado and Texas, monitoring hurricane recovery.

In the crowd: young activists, nuns whose anti-war activism dates to Vietnam, parents mourning their children in uniform lost in Iraq, and uncountable families motivated for the first time to protest.

Connie McCroskey, 58, came from Des Moines, Iowa, with two of her daughters, both in their 20s, for the family's first demonstration. McCroskey, whose father fought in World War II, said she never would have dared protest during the Vietnam War.

"Today, I had some courage," she said.

While united against the war, political beliefs varied. Paul Rutherford, 60, of Vandalia, Michigan, said he is a Republican who supported Bush in the last election and still does -- except for the war.

"President Bush needs to admit he made a mistake in the war and bring the troops home, and let's move on," Rutherford said.

His wife, Judy, 58, called the removal of Saddam Hussein "a noble mission" but said U.S. troops should have left when claims that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction proved unfounded.

"We found that there were none and yet we still stay there and innocent people are dying daily," she said.

"Bush Lied, Thousands Died," said one sign. "End the Occupation," said another. More than 1,900 members of the U.S. armed forces have died since the beginning of the war in March 2003.

A few hundred people in a counter demonstration in support of Bush's Iraq policy lined the protest route near the FBI building. The two groups shouted at each other, a police line keeping them apart. Organizers of a pro-military rally Sunday hoped for 10,000 people.

Ramsey said the day's protest unfolded peacefully under the heavy police presence. "They're vocal but not violent," he said.

Arthur Pollock, 47, of Cecil County, Maryland, said he was against the war from the beginning. He wants the soldiers out, but not all at once.

"They've got to leave slowly," said Pollock, attending his first protest. "It will be utter chaos in that country if we pull them out all at once."

Folk singer Joan Baez marched with the protesters and later serenaded them at a concert at the foot of the Washington Monument. An icon of the 1960s Vietnam War protests, she said Iraq is already a mess and the troops need to come home immediately. "There is chaos. There's bloodshed. There's carnage."

The protest in the capital showcased a series of demonstrations in foreign and other U.S. cities.

A crowd in London, estimated by police at 10,000, marched in support of withdrawing British troops from Iraq. Highlighting the need to get out, protesters said, were violent clashes between insurgents and British troops in the southern Iraq city of Basra.

In Rome, dozens of protesters held up banners and peace flags outside the U.S. Embassy and covered a sidewalk with messages and flowers in honor of those killed in Iraq.

Cindy Sheehan, the California mother who drew thousands of demonstrators to her 26-day vigil outside Bush's Texas ranch last month, won a roar of approval when she took the stage in Washington. Her 24-year-old son, Casey, was killed in Iraq last year.

"Shame on you," Sheehan admonished, directing that portion of her remarks to members of Congress who backed Bush on the war. "How many more of other people's children are you willing to sacrifice?

She led the crowd in chanting, "Not one more."

Separately, hundreds of opponents of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund danced to the beat of drums in the Dupont Circle part of the city before marching toward the White House to join the anti-war protesters.

Supporters of Bush's policy in Iraq assembled in smaller numbers to get their voice heard in the day's anti-war din. About 150 of them rallied at the U.S. Navy Memorial.

Gary Qualls, 48, of Temple, Texas, whose Marine reservist son, Louis, died last year in the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, asked: "If you bring them home now, who's going to be responsible for all the atrocities that are fixing to happen over there? Cindy Sheehan?"
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/24/antiwar.ap/index.html

http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg....r324680482.jpg

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[mesue]

I was wanting to attend but hubby had put together a benefit for some Katrina victims so I had to help do that this weekend, and though I was proud of him for doing it, I wanted to go to the protest. I've been watching the FSTV broadcast about the protest and there are thousands of people there and apparently many more are trying to get there but access is being blocked from what I can understand, I'll write more about it as soon as I access the Democracy Now braodcast I am sure they will be one of the few news programs actually reporting on it.

[Technologist]

Folk singer Joan Baez {SNIP** she said Iraq is already a mess and the troops need to come home immediately. "There is chaos. There's bloodshed. There's carnage."

uh, hello.... its a war... do you think they play rock, scissors, paper???

Go write another song Joan.... and smoke some more dope!!!!

[mesue]

You are so right it is a war and people are dying, but guess what the two Bush twins and the Presidents 8 nephews and nieces are not there fighting if it so important why does that family not make a few sacrifices?

[Technologist]

Because it is a VOLUNTEER army!!! Just because one of your RELATIVES is active in politics doesn't mean that YOU have to join the military!!!

How many relatives have you forced to join the military (or your church, or the scouts, or your Book reading club)????

C'mon people, Bush may be president, but he can't FORCE his relatives into the military... just like he can't force YOUR relatives...

As far as the Bush twins... aren't they stiil in college?

I have TONS of relatives that haven't been in the military.... and several that have been... but the ones that did serve either volunteered, or were drafted in the 60's...

So, you're saying you support the DRAFT, for all eligible people, and you hope that the Bush twins and the 8 neices and nephews get drafted??? And your willing to put your kids in the same pool with them???

Pick a side and stick with it... You are either anti-war (for everyone), or you want INVOLUNTARY military service for ALL (Bush relatives and your included)...

[YNKYH8R]

Listen....you hear that?

It's the sound of no one caring....

[mesue]

Because it is a VOLUNTEER army!!! Just because one of your RELATIVES is active in politics doesn't mean that YOU have to join the military!!!

How many relatives have you forced to join the military (or your church, or the scouts, or your Book reading club)????

C'mon people, Bush may be president, but he can't FORCE his relatives into the military... just like he can't force YOUR relatives...

As far as the Bush twins... aren't they stiil in college?

I have TONS of relatives that haven't been in the military.... and several that have been... but the ones that did serve either volunteered, or were drafted in the 60's...

So, you're saying you support the DRAFT, for all eligible people, and you hope that the Bush twins and the 8 neices and nephews get drafted??? And your willing to put your kids in the same pool with them???

Pick a side and stick with it... You are either anti-war (for everyone), or you want INVOLUNTARY military service for ALL (Bush relatives and your included)...

I am anti-war for everyone but if the draft ever started you can bet that the Bush relatives would not be going. My point is that the Chickenhawks in the Bush Administration who are all for war are not giving up any of their precious children to go fight why should the rest of us? Same old story, the rich man dances while the poor man pays the band.

[YNKYH8R]

Iraq war protester Sheehan arrested
Protest near White House aimed at refocusing attention on conflict

The Associated Press
Updated: 3:45 p.m. ET Sept. 26, 2005


WASHINGTON - Cindy Sheehan, the California woman who has used her son’s death in Iraq to spur the anti-war movement, was arrested Monday while protesting outside the White House.

Sheehan and several dozen other protesters sat down on the sidewalk after marching along the pedestrian walkway on Pennsylvania Avenue. Police warned them three times that they were breaking the law by failing to move along, then began making arrests.

Sheehan, 48, was the first taken into custody. She stood up and was handcuffed, then led to a police vehicle while protesters chanted, “The whole world is watching.”

Others who were arrested also cooperated with police. Sgt. Scott Fear, spokesman for the U.S. Park Police, said they would be charged with demonstrating without a permit, which is a misdemeanor.

Park Police Sgt. L.J. McNally said Sheehan and the others would be taken to a processing center where they would be fingerprinted and photographed, then given a ticket and released. The process would take several hours, he said.

Sheehan’s 24-year-old son, Casey, was killed in an ambush in Sadr City, Iraq, last year. She attracted worldwide attention last month with her 26-day vigil outside President Bush’s Texas ranch.

Several hundred protesters in D.C.
Sheehan was among several hundred demonstrators who marched around the White House on Monday and then stopped in front and began singing and chanting “Stop the war now!” Organizers had said some planned to be arrested.

The demonstration is part of a broader anti-war effort on Capitol Hill organized by United for Peace and Justice, an umbrella group. Representatives from anti-war groups were meeting Monday with members of Congress to urge them to work to end the war and bring home the troops.

The protest following a massive demonstration Saturday on the National Mall that drew a crowd of 100,000 or more, the largest such gathering in the capital since the war began in March 2003.

On Sunday, a rally supporting the war drew roughly 500 participants. Speakers included veterans of World War II and the war in Iraq, as well as family members of soldiers killed in Iraq.

“I would like to say to Cindy Sheehan and her supporters, ‘Don’t be a group of unthinking lemmings.’ It’s not pretty,” said Mitzy Kenny of Ridgeley, W.Va., whose husband died in Iraq last year. The anti-war demonstrations “can affect the war in a really negative way. It gives the enemy hope.”

[stresseater]

I am anti-war for everyone but if the draft ever started you can bet that the Bush relatives would not be going. My point is that the Chickenhawks in the Bush Administration who are all for war are not giving up any of their precious children to go fight why should the rest of us? Same old story, the rich man dances while the poor man pays the band.

OK I'll call BS on the first part since you couldn't possibly know they wouldn't serve. As for these people dying on thejob over there,5703 workers lost thier lives last year while on the job here. Where is the outrage???

[mesue]

its pretty clear their not serving in the military, their not serving now and looking at the Bush family's and Cheney family's history of serving even when the draft was in place, deferrment after deferrment, I would have to lay money down on my bet that none of them would serve. As for the 5703 workers who lost their lives last year on the job here, what workers are you talking about?

[Jaidness]

maybe if the economy didn't suck so bad and there were enough jobs that pay decent livable wages and an education didn't cost so much people could actually make money at jobs in their states or hometowns~~~ maaaaybe there wouldn't be so many people "forced" to go into the military. I think Tngirl in another thread said her state has very high unemployment and poverty levels.I see alot of people on this very board saying they can't get a job that pays for childcare nevermind the gas it would cost them to get there everyday. To alot of the people that serve it could be the only option they have to get ahead in life and/or support themselves and their families. I could rationalize a war based on a just cuase a TRUE and right cause, but seriously, democracy for people that don't even want it? What about all the people that die from hunger and homelessness right here in the US or as someone else put it the workers that die on the job maybe due to lack of government regulatory controls, or the kids that die of neglect in foster care cos there isn't enough money to properly fund the manpower eccessary to ensure their wellbeing? What about the people dying in Africa? The Sudan or from aids? That isn't a worthy cause? There is no sufficient reason to go there and help them too? I find it very telling that over 100,000 people showed up for the PEACE rally and maybe 500 showed up for the war rally...How many of you pro war people have kids in the military? How many of you plan to have your kids join or would like your very kids to be the ones coming home in a bodybag or disabled or traumatized from the things they have seen and done over there? We have a whole generation of Vietnam vets, ever listen to their stories?

Go write another song Joan.... and smoke some more dope!!!!

you forgot to add ....you commie pinko hippy f@g!