Tens of thousands protest Iraq policy in Washington ( 2003-10-26 11:10) (Reuters)
Tens of thousands of protesters marched around the White House on Saturday in
the first large-scale demonstration against the occupation of Iraq by U.S.-led
forces since President Bush declared an end to major combat.
The protesters, waving placards demanding the withdrawal of U.S. troops from
Iraq, gathered at a rally at the Washington Monument before moving toward the
White House.
Peace activists, joined by family members of U.S. troops, said the mounting
casualties in Iraq had helped spur the U.S. anti-war movement into action after
months of relative quiet.
"We need to make President Bush realize that our children are being killed,"
said Fernando de Solar Suarez, whose son, a Marine, was killed in Iraq on March
27.
Since May 1, when Bush stood on the deck of an aircraft carrier and declared
major combat in the Iraq war over, 108 U.S. soldiers have been killed in
guerrilla attacks.
Many of the protesters said they felt the cost of the Iraq occupation in
American lives was too high and the billions of U.S. dollars being spent on
reconstructing the country's shattered economy could be put to better use at
home.
"We need to quit worrying about the ills of other countries and to stop
spending billions of dollars on Iraq when we need money for jobs here," said
Washington resident Erik Jurek, who added that he was worried about his brother
serving in the U.S. Army in Baghdad.
United for Peace and Justice, which coordinated the protest with
International ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), estimated that
100,000 people from more than 145 cities attended the demonstration. Police on
the streets put the number closer to 20,000 or 30,000. Washington police do not
provide official crowd estimates at public protests.
ANSWER spokesman Brian Becker said the demonstration was intended to send
a message to the Bush administration that its position was "losing ground" while
they were gaining.
Polls have shown a steady slide in Bush's approval rating since May, when it
was around 80 percent. According to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll this month, 56
percent of Americans surveyed approved of the way Bush leading the country.
MORE MILITARY FAMILIES
The call to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq was echoed in San Francisco, where
several thousand anti-war protesters crowded into a plaza in front of City Hall.
The rally, to be followed by a march to a nearby park, was peaceful, in
contrast to past demonstrations in the city, which have ended with hundreds of
arrests.
"We must stop the war now, get our troops home, and deny Bush any credibility
so he can't take us into another war," said John Scanlon, a former Marine who
served in Vietnam and came from San Diego with a group of other veterans.
In Washington, the air was almost festive as the crowd marched through the
streets chanting "End the Occupation! Bring them home now!" and singing.
One man sold T-shirts that read "Osama bin Rumsfeld," depicting the Defense
Secretary wearing a head covering similar to many pictures of the al Qaeda
leader bin Laden.
Others held pink balloons that read "Weapons of Mass Destruction: A lot of
hot air!." Some people were accompanied by their children and a few brought
their dogs.
Dozens of families from as far away as California, Texas and Maine came for
the demonstration, said Nancy Lessin, of the group Military Families Speak Out.
"Something we have to realize is there might not be a good solution in Iraq.
There might not be democracy with or without Americans," said South Carolina
teacher Michael Berg, who favors a greater role for the United Nations (news -
web sites) in Iraq.
