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 News from Around the Americas | September 2005 
Anti-War Fervor Fills the Streets
 Petula Dvorak - The Washington Post
| George Bush in Trouble
(Cartoonist: Plantu / Le Monde Paris) |
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.
Thousands Protest the Iraq War
Kathleen Sullivan, Chris Heredia, Janine DeFao & Todd Wallack
The San Francisco Chronicle
Tens of thousands of people marched in San Francisco and the East Bay today to urge the U.S. government to pull out of Iraq, joining anti-war protests in Washington and other cities.
Elsewhere in the city, thousands of people grooved to the sound of electronic music along Market Street and at Civic Center Plaza. And tonight, thousands more are expected to rock-out at SBC Park to Green Day, the celebrity punk band born in Berkeley.
Police estimated 20,000 people marched today. Organizers pegged the crowd at 50,000. Either way, it was one of the largest anti-war protests since the U.S. invaded Iraq two years ago. Protesters gathered in San Francisco's Dolores Park this morning, then marched for two hours to Jefferson Square Park, where the park was jammed with a standing room only crowd of bodies.
As they marched, people carried signs expressing outrage at everything from the war in Iraq to President Bush to the treatment of Palestinians. One man, dressed as Uncle Sam, carried an American flag with a peace sign.
A sixth-grader from San Jose held a handmade sign that said "No war ever more" on one side and "No war anymore" on the other. "I am going to be a conscientious objector," said Dominic Dello Bueno, 11, who was there with his father and younger sister. "I vote for peace not war." Some participants said they have been actively protesting the war for months or years.
"I write letters," said Isabelle Corkins, 47, of Alameda, who with her husband and 4-year-old daughter. "This is the only thing left that gives me a sense of doing something."
A student from Laney College in Oakland prepared to help carry a procession of black coffins, built to represent Iraqi children who have died in the conflict.
"The idea is that we will stop protesting just because the war is continuing, but we won't," said Maryjane Jota, 20. "Just because it's old news, doesn't mean that it's old news to the people who are dying."
Douglas Fisher, 61, held a large rainbow flag that said "Peace" in Italian. He said he got the flag in Sicily, and has taken part in several peace marches to oppose the war.
"Somebody said it was a great day for a march," he said. "I was thinking it would be great if we didn't have to come down here anymore."
Along a grassy median on Dolores Street, people set up 40 large placards marking casualties from the war. Each poster carried 60 photos and drawings, representing American soldiers and Iraqi citizens who have been killed in the conflict. (The U.S. military estimates that at least 1,900 soliders have died, and thousands more have been wounded in Iraq.)
Jim Haber, 43, said the posters were designed to "show the human cost of the war." At least a half dozen counter-protesters, including a group of college Republicans from San Francisco State University, turned out to the military effort in Iraq.
One held a handmade sign that said "Hey, losers. Stop demoralizing the troops."
Another said he thinks the U.S. military will need to remain in Iraq for years to help the country establish a democracy. He said he thought most of the protesters were radicals who wanted to overthrow the U.S. government.
"There is a different way to peace," said Leigh Wolf, a 19-year-old broadcast major. "This work can come to an end with patriotism instead of a socialist revolution."
By late afternoon, the crowd at Jefferson Park had thinned considerably.
A smaller protest was also held in Walnut Creek, where about 250 to 300 people marched from the city's Bart station to Heather Farms Park.
The demonstration drew a wide range of people - from seniors to kids- holding peace signs. Many drivers honked noisily as they drove by marchers on Ignacio Valley Road, though some gave a thumbs down sign or a middle finger.
A 52-year-old lawyer said he joined the protest because of her outrage at the federal government's sluggish response to Hurricane Katrina. Faith Brewer said she thought the problem was exacerbated because too many resources were diverted to Iraq.
"Too many people died in New Orleans, because of the war in Iraq," she said.
Brewer said she was particularly motivated to march in Walnut Creek, her hometown, because it's considered a more conservative city in the liberal region.
"People tend to think that nobody here is against the war in Iraq - that all the leftist, peaceniks are in San Francisco," she said.
Others held signs supporting peace and a pull-out of Iraq. On said "Moms against the War." Another read, "Bring the troops home now." A third said "Peace is Patriotic." Unlike some other war protests, the focus appeared to be squarely on Iraq.
Sondra Runyan, who has a daughter in the Coast Guard, said she worried that Americans have become inured to the news of soldiers dying in Iraq.
"It seems when you turn on the radio, they mention we lost two or three soldiers, and then they're off to the sports scores," said Runyan, 47, of Martinez. "People are immune to the pain these families are going through. This is destroying families."
Contra Costa County Supervisor Mark DeSaulnier, who attended the rally, said he plans to propose a resolution next month in support of Congressional legislation to set a deadline to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq.
"I don't see this as being out of mainstream," DeSaulnier said, as he looked over the crowd . "It may be the tip of the iceberg."
"If enough local elected speak out, we could be saving lives," he added.
The Walnut Creek rally ended peacefully at about 2 p.m.
Meanwhile, thousands of electronic music lovers gathered along Market Street for the 1 p.m. start of the city's second annual Loveparade.
The parade, featuring 24 floats with more than 200 disc jockeys from as far away as Israel, was expected to head slowly along Market Street, ending in a massive dance party at City Hall and the surrounding Civic Center Plaza.
An estimated 30,000 to 35,000 people showed up for the festival last year, and organizers hope to double that tally this year.
Though precise crowd estimates weren't available, the sidewalks were packed 12-people deep in some places along Market Street as dance party regulars mixed with tourists. "Can you feel the love? It's contagious," said Brian Tene, 27, of Daly City, dressed in a Superman outfit, complete with a red cape and sculpted foam chest. "Look at everyone being themselves and being free."
Loveparade was first launched in Berlin in 1989, with the idea that techno music would help bridge the cultures of East and West Berlin after the fall of the Berlin Wall. While the Berlin event is now defunct, other Loveparades had popped up around the globe, including Mexico City and Tel Aviv.
The San Francisco event - which includes not only Euro-inspired techno music but hip hop, house, jungle, funk, progressive and trance music - has continued the theme that music celebrates diversity, promotes tolerance and fosters community.
"The music sort of joins everyone together," said parade spokeswoman Jennifer Manger. "If we can put all the music in one place, we can join those subcultures together in a community of love."
The Green Day concert was expected to begin at 7 p.m., ensuring traffic snarls would continue throughout the day. A BART commuter reported trains were jammed.
Thousands March to Demand Withdrawal of Troops from Iraq
Tom Anderson - The Independent UK
More than 10,000 protesters descended on London yesterday for a mass demonstration against the war in Iraq.
Many of the protesters, who marched from Parliament Square to Hyde Park blowing whistles and carrying placards, were demanding the immediate withdrawal of British troops.
Buses were used to bring people from all over Britain to join the demonstration, organised by the Stop the War Coalition.
Scotland Yard estimated that crowds had swollen to 10,000 people by the time the march reached Hyde Park in the early afternoon, although organisers put the numbers at up to 100,000. Other marches were planned for the United States.
Andrew Murray, chairman of the Stop the War Coalition, said people were marching to show their solidarity with Muslims bearing "the brunt of attacks" in Iraq.
He told the crowd: "We cannot say how many are here, but there are certainly tens of thousands from all over the country marching above all to bring the troops home from Iraq and end the bloody disastrous occupation."
The former Labour MP Tony Benn, who also took part in the demonstration, described the war as "unwinnable" and said it had been waged "for oil and power".
"We demand that troops come out of Iraq and that a date is set now," he said.
The demonstration, which was the 12th to be held over the past few years, began outside the Houses of Parliament where protests have been banned under new laws.
Peter Brierley, from Batley in West Yorkshire, whose son Shaun, 28, died in Kuwait in 2003, said: "My son was betrayed by Blair. If the Government do not bring them out, there will be more families like us."
For Sue Smith, who lost her son in a roadside explosion in Basra two months ago, the day was highly emotional. She choked back tears as she read out a letter delivered to Downing Street earlier yesterday, begging Tony Blair to withdraw British troops.
"Seven weeks ago we saw our son for the last time in a coffin at the chapel of rest," she said.
"You can never know how it feels, but you have the power to stop it happening again. You made the decision to go to Iraq and you can make the decision to get our sons and daughters out of there."
British soldier Lance Corporal George Solomou, who refused his call-up to serve in Iraq, was near the front of the protest as it made its way to Trafalgar Square and on to Hyde Park.
He said: "I am here to show my solidarity. The British people are realising they have been told more and more lies about this war." |
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