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Thousands Protest Iraq War Across US
SAN FRANCISCO - Thousands of people called for a swift end to the war in Iraq as they marched through downtown on Saturday, chanting and carrying signs that read: "Wall Street Gets Rich, Iraqis and GIs Die" or "Drop Tuition Not Bombs."
The streets were filled with thousands as labor union members, anti-war activists, clergy and others rallied near City Hall before marching to Dolores Park.
As part of the demonstration, protesters fell on Market Street as part of a "die in" to commemorate the thousands of American soldiers and Iraqi citizens who have died since the conflict began in March 2003.
The protest was the largest in a series of war protests taking place in New York, Los Angeles and other U.S. cities, organizers said.
No official head count was available. Organizers of the event estimated about 30,000 people participated in San Francisco. It appeared that more than 10,000 people attended the march.
"I got the sense that many people were at a demonstration for the first time," said Sarah Sloan, one of the event's organizers. "That's something that's really changed. People have realized the right thing to do is to take to the streets."
In the shadow of the National Constitution Center and Independence Hall in Philadelphia, a few hundred protesters ranging from grade school-aged children to senior citizens called on President Bush to end funding for the war and bring troops home.
Marchers who braved severe wet weather during the walk of more than 30 blocks were met by people lining the sidewalks and clutching a long yellow ribbon over the final blocks before Independence Mall. There, the rally opened with songs and prayers by descendants of Lenape Indians.
"Our signs are limp from the rain and the ground is soggy, but out spirits are high," said Bal Pinguel, of the American Friends Service Committee, one of the national sponsors of the event. "The high price we are paying is the more than 3,800 troops who have been killed in the war in Iraq."
Vince Robbins, 51, of Mount Holly, N.J., said there needed to be more rallies and more outrage.
"Where's the outcry? Where's the horror that almost 4,000 Americans have died in a foreign country that we invaded?" Robbins said. "I'm almost as angry at the American people as I am the president. I think Americans have become apathetic and placid about the whole thing."
In New York, among the thousands marching down Broadway was a man carrying cardboard peace doves. Some others dressed as prisoners, wearing the bright orange garb of Guantanamo Bay inmates and pushing a person in a cage.
Chicago police said about 5,000 people marched through city streets to protest the war.
Police spokeswoman JoAnn Taylor said three protesters were arrested before the march started. They face charges including resisting arrest, failure to obey a police officer, criminal damage to property and aggravated battery to a police officer.
In Seattle, thousands of marchers were led by a small group of Iraq war veterans.
At Occidental Park, where the protesters rallied after the march, the American Friends Service Committee displayed scores of combat boots, one pair for each U.S. solider killed in Iraq.
Associated Press writer Bob Lentz in Philadelphia contributed to this report.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.
86 Comments so far
Show AllWith all due respect, "antiwar sentiment" expressed by the honking of a horn (while say, talking on a cellphone en route to Sunday brunch) could reach 99.9 percnet and it wouldn't make a damn bit of difference. It is precisely that type of ephemeral, recreational antiwar sentiment that perpetuates the catastrophe--which will continue so long as protestors stay on the sidewalk rather than blocking traffic and/or making some sort of attempt to risk themselves and disrupt daily life. To think that the Women in Black protester complacently felt as though she had done her duty for the day, and that change is on the horizon attests to the powerlessness (and obliviousness)of the powerless.
I attended a protest in Buffalo NY organized by Women in Black. There were about a dozen protesters. Very well received with passers by honking in support. It shows that anti war sentiment is deepening.
I was at a protest in Ashland oregon there were about 150 people there, and lots of honking cars. Ashland has only 20000 people, not a bad turnout, imagine how many other little towns are doing the same....of course no news in the main media..
Good deal, Bush will see the light now. Praise the Lord.
Media sholuld be courted by protesters. Mention of the hundreds of protests everywhere have not made it beyond places like CommonDreams.
Our Orlando protest news will have to wait until participants return to town with their photos.
The disdain of Brush Off Bush doesn't mean we don't gall the hell out of him.
Muslims who've had their babies, brothers, sisters, parents, and other family members killed by our bombs and bullets need to see us on the streets.
Let's not criticize each other or allow the infiltrators to dampen the spirit of rebellion.
When the government doesn't listen to the people, the people have a constitutional right to join together in an insurrection. My Congressmen write me back and tell me why I have to change, why I have to support the Bush Way. They don't listen to me nor represent me. We need to light the fires of conscience and let them burn brightly. We need more folks to shout out the protest inside the chambers of Congress.
Let's encourage not denigrate each other. Every honk counts. Every finger raised is merely persons showing off their pride in their single I.Q. point. The obscene gestures are the ones that don't count.
Only 10,000?? where are the rest of The American People? 3800 (at least, and I believe more than that!) troops dead, one million Iraqis dead, two million external refugees and about two million internally displaced Iraqis. Wouldn't one think that more than 10,000 bay area people could haul their butts out of their coffee shops and do a bit more than recreational anti-war protesting?
Ho hum. Please pass the pretzels.
When they start marching with rifles in hand, maybe then someone will actually take notice. Until then, ... Well, I suppose they should be given a pat on the head for having good intentions, but that's about all.
About 600 participated here in Denver. The organizers made repeated calls from the podium for folk to participate more in weekly street vigils to get the message out, since the corporate press will not do that job for us. We have the public on our side, but at this time they are not angry enough to participate more in the marches and rallies. The support from people passing by was loud and enthusiastic though.
And, what did you do Dasha?
sorry to say, most americans are only bothered because they haven't lost the ability to be compassionate, and if they get that far, then their conscience. and as our political leaders so adequately demonstrate, what's the conscience really?
I participated in protest against the illegal occupation when 300,000+ of us marched through the streets of San Francisco, yet even then that seemed to be a small showing. It is great to see the protest spirit, however, I am with MotherSpeak and Dasha, where we need TENS OF MILLIONS in the street disrupting traffic, commerce, legislation, and other means on WEEKDAYS to really make a statement. Until then, Bush & Co will continue ridiculing us by giving us the finger and changing the channel to watch Fux News.
Sadly, I think the only way we will get more people out in the streets is when things become more economically painful and inconvenient to the point where people become irate enough to actually show up in the streets demanding reform. But from the looks of the situation, everything will have to get much worse to get larger numbers of people to participate in the demonstrations.
@Dasha
I attended the march in Boston and we were not confined to the sidewalk. The march occupied major streets in the downtown section, holding up traffic for a considerable time. I saw at least one motorist losing his patience over the traffic blockage. Also, look at the photo in this article and see that the same occurred in San Francisco as well.
Personally, I think that one of the things that, as you say, perpetuates the catastrophe is people who speak about such public protests as if they are not worth the effort. And yes, there are plenty of other, more productive ways to encourage a change in our government's foreign policy. For example, you could hire a lobbyist and have him pay the Democratic and Republican parties $50,000,000,000 each in campaign contributions on the condition that they work to end the war. I'm anxious to read about your donations, which will most probably be reported in the news.
If you can't come up with my suggested $100,000,000,000, maybe you could consider joining us at the next demonstration? Perhaps it's not as effective as donating $100,000,000,000, but it is not a waste of time.
Okay, Bush is not listening. Pelosi and Reid are barely paying attention. The media dutifully reports us as colorful clowns.
Who is the audience, who is the target?
We are, We the People. The point of demonstrating is to make a point to each other, to our neighbors, coworkers, friends and enemies alike. It is to show that we are aware and we care.
That in itself is not enough to stop the war, but it is an essential step. Online is a step, in the streets is better, in Congressional offices better still, blocking the entrances and lying down on the tracks is better still. Aiding soldiers who refuse, getting out the message of the Iraqi resistance and the news of what is going on over there, bringing the message to the media and to Congress and directly to the People when the powerful don't listen... That is what an antiwar movement looks like. Marching in the streets is not enough, but it is essential.
And sorry, but, guns are for assholes.
That's it Annabelle, dismiss the seriousness of the discussion with the childish "and what did you do?" (which amounts to saying: "if you don't like things in this country, why don't you just leave?"). You mistakenly assumed I didn't take part in one of the demonstrations. The point is doing so brought it home how much more needs to be done, especially given how few of those present shared my sentiments. So: rather than returning with 'And what did you do Annabelle?", I'll ask: how do you want to help me and us do something besides write each other on this website?
Things have improved. They used to shoot protesters. If we stop protesting, or if we lessen our protesting, the so-called authorities may go back to shooting us. We must increase the numbers, but even a million marching in London didn't keep Britain out of Iraq. Even when 70% oppose the war, the Decider pushes on with the plan to share our tax money with Halliburton, Boeing and the snakes at Blackwater.
I believe we are on the verge of critical mass, in that many are ready, or near ready to start hitting the streets. Nothing builds numbers like numbers, and the social conscience is awakening to that. I think that once it starts, you'll see the physical evidence of a MASSIVE amount of pent-up frustration being unleashed. No, not in physical violence, but in taking part IN MASS.
Supposedly the hard line talabangelicals are loosing their grip in 'damn near' free-fall. I hope it will be a cold day in hell before society forgives those ^**&^%$^(^%##$%ards for what they've done to this country....and the world.
The U.S. peace activists may make a better point if they would join with the NRA and take to the streets. If we show up on weekdays and disrupt the economic flow of the military industrial govorporation, and we show up with a rifle in each hand, then perhaps the power will take us seriously. The poll numbers do not matter to Bush, to the Republicans or to the Democrats; they all continue to not only fund the occupation of a foreign nation, but they also vote to fund all of the U.S. military bases throughout the world. Let's use some marketing savvy and join forces w/ the NRA. The next right the Right may choose to eliminate just might be the second amendment, the right to bear arms.
Orez_Eno, no, is it not a waste of time... but time is running out. And, if you are engaging with anti-war groups - as I have, and do, and am losing patience with - you know that we, the people, are our own worst enemies. We fight, and backbite, and undermine, and compete -- all very nice appearing but behind that is a fight to the death for personal recognition, personal celebrity, personal gratification. As someone not born in the US I find these unconscious behaviors distressing as so many people here act as if they are, somehow, above the petty bickering that is an intense reality in the "left", including the "peace" groups. I believe it is called "individualism" here...
We must bite the bullet (ugh, wrong words,eh?) and understand that we are all implicated in the travesties we/American perpetuates around the world and that we are all "human" in the sense of fallible and egocentric... then we may learn the skills of collective and effective action... and humility....
Well said, Motherspeak. Confronting these unconscious hankerings for personal gratification would be a critical preliminary step to take as we begin to intensify the frequency, duration and types of protest activities. Orez-Eno: please read more carefully. The point is protests are worth still more effort. And why engage in the kind of personal attack that seems to model itself after the O'Reily Factor?
In 1965, Barry McGuire was already fed up with the futility of demonstrations:
"And marches alone can't bring integration
When human respect is disintegrating"
Most people thought when they cast their votes for Democrats last November that they were voting for a quick end to the occupation, but have had the Blue Dogs, Capitulosi-Crats and Emanuelites and their political consultants dumping their chamberpots on any who have the temerity to question their good intentions.
Of course there isn't a single political agenda animating all those who oppose the occupation; it's absurd to think it could be otherwise, and beside the point to chide people for coming at the problem from different angles. The absence of internicine conflicts among opponents of the war wouldn't impress the War party either.
From marches to CD to direct action, we need it all. February 15th, 2003 didn't end the war, that's true. But movements aren't built by making a statement en masse, then giving up when it doesn't work. Keep going, keeping pushing, la lucha, sigue, sigue!
What is true though is that people get tired out. Activist burnout is real - so recharge yourself, *don't get bitter* (I repeat: DO NOT GET BITTER), and carry on when you're ready. The appearance of new faces is a very good sign - it means that we may be evolving to the point where people can cycle in and out as their bodies, hearts and minds need to, while keeping up the pressure. Keep it up, people!
I went to the march in New York City. The heavy rain could not deter the enthusiasm of the New York Crowd.
As we marched passed by Canal Street ( a mecca for shopping) a group of us began to yelled, "Stop Shopping" and "Join Us" the stunned crowd was pretty horrify. lol
Shout out to friends who came to the NYC march from Fairleigh Dickerson University in N.J.
Channel 1 News (Time-Warner Cable) said there were 40,000 protesters.
The biggest problem with the honking-for-peace drivers, besides the "ephemeral, recreational" (well-said Dasha) is their hypocracy. The car horn and car it is attached to, is literally fueled by Iraqi blood.
Must I remind you that the current, 75% completed, destruction of an entire nation is for the control of oil supplies and prices - so American can keep on driving those cars?
Good start, folks. Someone above mentioned 1964 and the futility of marches - yes, in 1964 the marches were small (but sincere), but they grew slowly but surely over the next ten years. Notice - TEN YEARS. Those big protests from the '60s you see on TV didn't start overnight - they started with small groups and got bigger. And 40,000 in NYC sounds like a pretty good crowd to me. In 1964 we would have fainted if 40,000 turned out.
And this isn't even the start - it's a continuation of the ones that have already gone before.
The honking by supporters is most encouraging of all - back in the 60's passing cars usually gave us the finger.
Just like many keep posting and saying that, "Dennis Kucinich doesn't have a chance in hell of getting elected because....", allow me to say here that protesting doesn't have a chance in hell of succeeding.
"We The People"'s voices mean nothing to a deaf government machine bent on fulfilling their own agenda. Citizens of the "Corporate States of America" are dumbed down MUCH more since the Vietnam protests of the 1960's and 1970's. You may as well just setle back with a beer in front of reality T.V. or go shopping and let the dominoes fall.
Exactly which candidates for President joined the marches?
Keep on protesting.
The world may not change, but that does not mean you have not affected the world.
As Gandhi said, it may not seem to you at the moment that what you do makes a difference, but that does not absolve you from the duty to do the little you can do.
If it wasn't for sites like Common Dreams, I would have never heard about these protests. Keep up the good work and take the power back!
When the million marched in London, the decision to go to war had already been arranged/agreed between the U.K. & America. The despair felt amongst myself & fellow marchers when the bombs starting blasting on Bagdad was deeply sickening. The pain in our hearts for what was being "done in our name" was so hard to live with.
It was difficult to fight the "was it worthwhile" feeling & the thought that - did I do this just to make myself "feel better". But I knew I had to fight against both thought patterns because they could provide me with an excuse for doing nothing.
The current situation in the U.K. is,I beleive, that when "the system" tells America/Israel to go for Iran,the U.K. will not join in. If they do - WE WILL HAVE A BLOODY REVOLUTION!!!!!
Dasha, shame on you for being such a wet blanket (moron?). You have no right to call out the person who spent there day doing something that more americans should have been doing but weren't. good for you person in buffalo. and dasha, don't get on a blog and vent your frustrations out on people who feel the same way (generally) as you do about the world. I hope you got "out in the street" and blocked traffic yourself?
I just watched a series of YouTubes that made me sick. Here's the link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSnHudm5Cmk
These are GI's, teasing kids for water, mocking them, making them chase a truck for blocks to try to get one bottle of clean water. And laughing and giggling the whole time, calling them insulting names, etcetera.
If I were there, I would spit on them. They are not worthy of the uniform or the flag. If that is a fair example of what we are doing, we will just cultivate implacable hate, and we will have earned it.
We need to get out now! I have to assume that these GI's were not originally that way, it is learned behavior, bullying behavior. They treat these kids as less than human.
I think the kids show more dignity than they do, despite their poverty and thirst. The GI's even joke about how dehydrated they look! Watch these, perhaps you'll hit the streets next time or hold a vigil on a street corner.
Maybe some of the protests should target the media.
How about protesters outside some of the tv staions with signs about how the media helped lie us into a war.
A BIG part of the problem has been the media and how they have limited the debate
People who get their news on the internet are much more informed than people who get their news from tv
When I've been in protest groups everyone has tried to be nice to the media in the hopes that they would carry some of the information out to the public. I would like to see an in your face group that went after Fox news.
Underwhelming but not overwhlemingly underwhelming.
I wish it had been millions protesting this weekend, instead of thousands. But at least it was a rekindling of people action not seen since the pre-war protests of 2002-03. So let's not put it down so fast.
Like Nader2000, PrestonDigitator and others above say, it isn't enough, but its a critical first step.
We need to feed this rekindled fire, not throw cold water on it. And sure, as we feed it we need to make it more disruptive; more tactically sophisticated, so it gets right into the personal faces of our government's business-as-usual, daily duty doers.
Kucinich could help a lot, if he'd take on some leadership right now and try to help foster and solidify and expand the protest energy.
If he did that quick enough, he could even afford to dump his campaign-fatal Democrat label, survive the Primary elections, and move into the General election campaign as a clear strong voice for reform with millions behind him.
All praise to those in the streets today---Yes, an excellent idea for a new anti-war tactic: go after the media demanding that the reportage live up to their people-granted right to use the airwaves; as if they actually should be part of landscape that gives them existence beyond sucking money from its daily blood....In turn that can help increase awareness of the facts in more and more people....
Its time to let people know that Fox is a propaganda tool by the right wing and those of us opposed to Fox won't shop or buy things from people who advertise on Fox.
If you go into doctor's office and they have Fox news on...ask them to change the channel.
When I've gone into rest stops on the highway, if the tv is set to Fox I won't buy anything there.
Click the link to watch a short video of the performance by five ladies from Boise Idaho at the Peace Rally in Salt Lake City 27 October. Their rendition of 'Home on the Range' will have you humming it for hours.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Szzqa_xTvhM
Staging some sort of action against the media sounds promising: especially if it called specific networks by name and challenged, say, a 24 news network with evidently plenty of time on its hands to "cover" the event; of course, this would require a demonstration lasting more than one day.
Impeach the f: are you aware how closely your line of attack resembles the rantings of the "fucker" himself? You are either with us or you are against us. You either pat a protestor on the back or you join the ranks of the enemy.
Here in Flagstaff, Arizona we had more than 40,000 people protesting, and at least 20,000 of us paraded naked. We shut down the entire city, closed all the freeway entrances, occupied all of the federal buildings, opened all the jails, set the captives free, etc.. The police were helpless in the face of the onslaught. As the entire population of the town is only about 50,000, our march and rally had about 80 to 90 percent of the city show up. I think the only people who didn't show up were the local media. Complete blackout there. No TV, no radio, no print coverage. Go figure. If the rest of you slackers can't get it together like us, I think our next move is to secede and join the Bolivarian revolution.
There are some who say do nothing ...but yet they say they want things to change? Huh? They say to others... who are actively doing something that marching doesn't accomplish much ...so presumably they feel it's best to do nothing as if that would accomplish more?
So how does this type of unthinking work? Doing nothing simply permits what you would rather was changed, to go on undisturbed. To listen to them whine, doing SOMETHING like joining a march, doesn't 'do anything'! What is their solution then... to have everyone go back to doing nothing? HUH?
You march for yourself. You did SOMETHING to say NO, to what you oppose, while others simply accept it passively. Those who march spoke up while others for all their whining, in fact remained silent.
Did the marches in the sixties do anything? History answers the question yet some insist that marching accomplishes nothing. Too many want instant gratification, as if any one march or something was supposed to magically end this war tomorrow.
Yes it is a process and it takes time and effort. Ever ask who organizes these marches? Someone is DOING and it takes work. Rather than join a march (much less help organize a bigger turnout), some dismissively say marching does nothing, rather than seeing the need for themselves to pitch in and help organize a bigger turnout.
Imagine there was just one person who marched alone. Some would ask "Why would they bother, it won't change anything!". That one person did it if only to say "This is me and I say no." We only have this one life and for those who know right from wrong... passively accepting things that we feel is wrong is burdensome. So they march and say NO. That is all. They want to say NO. If it is only one person who wants in their only life to stand against something they feel is wrong, that person knows that they did something to show it rather than doing nothing. Others did nothing at all and thereby said yes or remained silent in the face of wrong.
But... that one person ...walking alone soon has others who also would show they say NO to wrong. Once Cindy Sheehan stood by a roadside alone in her grief. Some said why doesn't she just go home, it accomplishes nothing. But Cindy couldn't just go home... that to her was just accepting ...and that she couldn't do. So she stood alone. She did that for her son's memory... rather than do nothing and merely accept his death passively.
What could a single person accomplish by themselves many kept on asking. Some who asked said she was right and then joined her. Others kept coming to join her.
So when you ask does 'doing something' ever do 'anything' ... it's better to ask yourselves whether or not doing nothing would somehow accomplish more? Cindy refused to nothing even if it was to be just her by herself standing there alone.
What good would it do they asked, just one person? Cindy has accomplished much since then.
So if you feel marching says nothing then shut up because you are remaining silent anyway. That's the least ...you can do.
Say NO...or you say nothing... and saying nothing against wrong let's it go on undisturbed.
Choose who you are. It is either or. Say NO...or you accept passively and say nothing. Whining doesn't count... marching does. Those people said no and when they marched they showed it.
Whining doesn't count.
We had a good march in Boston- the biggest i've seen since 1990 when we had a memorably huge turnout yelling no to war on Iraq. i do understand how frustrating it can be- i been out there since Vietnam- but that's no reason to stop. we need to march and yell until everyone in the country joins us.
Well, the real George W. Bush is just waiting for an opportunity to declare martial law, so despite the temptation to haul rifles along, as someone suggested, please do not, but, hey, applause to all for making the numbers impressive, and now, all participants, thus far, need to bring at least one other person to DOUBLE the numbers for the next one. I sadly was not able to make it to the Seattle protest, which quite a few thousand appeared.
Hey, "gwb" from above me, are you serious about Flagstaff? Naked? Setting captives free? Hmmmm, skepticism is in order here.
Correction > Cindy refused to do nothing...
It bore repeating anyway.
Going on anti war marches is total waste of time. The onlt hope is Russia and China, simple as that. And Russia has to stand up, directly or indiretly against this modern day Hitler and his evil regime.
I missed this march but I've been on several and use to protest every week with a group.
Its a good experience to be with others who share your point of view and it is an eyeopener when you see who the people are who are protesting.
Most of the protesters are middle class people and are well dressed.
These are NOT hippies. A few are counter culture but the overwhelming majority are ordinary Americans and look like a cross section of America.
If you see the people protesting and the numbers who are there that gives more evidence of how the media is distorting information.
I wonder why Common Dreams removed the article "Protester Waves Blood-Colored Hands In Rice's Face" (dated October 24, 2007).
I marched in Ft Lauderdale. We had several hundred people. While I wish it would have been more, not even two years ago our numbers were a handful. Yesterday it was many people's first protest. We are growing. We are making important personal contacts. Who knows? Maybe someday these contacts will be the resistance to the totalitarian government? Until then, we must at least try to create some pressure toward change. Stop complaining and get out and join us. We can make a difference, we MUST make a difference.
The middle or professional classes are an ally, but waiting for them to assume leadership is a waste of time. They've frittered away precious time leading us back into the "democratic" party, instead of using their time and resource to build something new. They can help, but they can't lead anymore. Their leadership has been a disaster for thirty years now.
I suspect that the AP reporter who reported on the Phila event did not understand how it worked. It started out as a human chain 38 blocks long, from the VA Hospital to the Phila Federal Bldg. The march started at the VA Hospital, joined by everyone as it progressed, ending with the rally at Independence Mall. Someone may have seen the people gathered at the end before the march actually got there, and so reported an incorrectly low number.
My local group reported the following:
"Each of the thirty-eight of the blocks of human chain was covered by a different area group, union, or faith community. A yellow tape stretched the length of each block from 12:30PM - 1PM. At 1PM, a march with anti-war veterans started from 38th & Woodland following the route of the chain. With each block, the march grew, at mid-way covering more than three blocks, again according to police reports."
Fran