We are now entering the start of the fifth year of this war in Iraq. Protesters rallied all around the nation with the biggest march in Washington D.C. It wasn’t celebrity filled like the larger protest in Janurary. Among the speakers at the rally was Cynthia McKinney and Ramsey Clark. For a transcript of their speeches and a report of other protests check out this Democracy Now article. This time a group of pro-war protesters showed up because of a fear that the anti-war protesters where going to deface the Vietnam Wall with spray paint and urine-filled balloons. This stuff was started mostly by a group called Gathering of Eagles. Check out this video by them with Hot Air’s Michelle Malkin,
The Anti-war protests was sponsored by peace group ANSWER. They were met at times with signs saying “Peace Sucks” and “Go To Hell Traitors.” At the Vietnam Wall Veterans spent the frigid night guarding it, with one, Tim Hill, an ex-Marine with two tours in Iraq yelling through a megaphone, “Your march is based on lies, and all of you are terrorists.” Fox News reported this morning that the pro-war groups actually outnumbered the anti-war groups, but their own web sight doesn’t even back that one up. The numbers were in the tens of thousands for the anti-war groups in the Washington D.C. area, and this protest seemed to have a more angrier tone than last January’s. On Friday before the protest a group of Christians marched to the White House after prayers at the Washington National Cathedral. While at the White House sidewalk 222 of them where arrested for not obeying the keep on moving laws that apply to the sidewalks around the White House. So you can’t even pray for peace in front of the White House. It is also worth noting that the U.S. was not the only place to have protest marking the fourth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. Madrid, Spain had some of the largest protest in Europe with about 100,000 people marching against the war in Iraq. All across Europe, Australia, South America and Canada other smaller gatherings where reported all protesting the fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq. Here is a couple of videos of the March in D.C. The first video is a collage of the protest showing both sides. The second is speeches with Iraq War Veterans speaking out. These videos where brought to us by youtube user Mufonix, who also has some more coverage of the D.C. protests. Enjoy, and Peace.
Alan Cosgrove