March on Washington: Sunday Herald


From Caitriona Palmer in Washington DC

THE biggest gathering of anti-war protestors in America since the invasion of Iraq came together outside the White House yesterday demanding the end of the war in Iraq and the immediate withdrawal of US troops.

Under the gaze of uniformed sharp shooters huddled on the roof of the White House, speakers rallied the crowd, estimated by police to be at least 100,000-strong, to frenzied cries of “Troops Out Now” and “No More War”. President Bush was not in the building at the time, having left to monitor hurricane relief efforts in Houston.

“We’re here to show our government and media that we mean business and that we’re not going home until every one of our troops is home”, shouted Cindy Sheehan to screams of approval from the crowd.

She was supported yesterday by Scottish mother Rose Gentle, who travelled to Washington last Monday to join Sheehan on her US tour. Gentle’s 19-year-old son Gordon, a Royal Highland Fusilier, was killed by a roadside bomb in Basra last June.

Their anti-war message was driven home later by another Scot, George Galloway. The MP for Bethnal Green, currently on a speaking tour in the US, told the crowd: “My presence on this demonstration and peace activist Tom Hayden’s on the London rally is a recognition of the fact that our two leaders are the biggest rogue leaders in the world and that we are standing shoulder to shoulder, united in opposing them.

“We are the ones who love the soldiers. We love them so much we don’t want them to die for Bush and Blair’s pack of lies.”

As a festival atmosphere prevailed, families with young children picnicked on the grass while weathered anti-war activists held aloft peace signs and rainbow flags. Venders under white tents conducted a brisk trade in anti-war memorabilia. A woman in denim stood holding an apple pie and sign that read: “Mom, Apple Pie And Peace.”

Wearing a T-shirt that read: “My Man Is In Iraq And I Want him Back”, 25-year-old Katey Dyck held aloft a photograph of her husband, Scott Dyck, 31, who is currently serving in the US army in Baghdad.

“He hates it there,” she said. “It’s hard to be shot at every day and not know why you’re there to begin with. Why send my husband to a war based on a lie?”

Medea Benjamin, 53, co-founder of Code Pink, a women’s peace group that helped organize the protest, explained the objective of yesterday’s march.

“We hope that it will be a re-energization of the peace movement,” she said. “We want to get people out in large numbers to put pressure on congress and start legislation to bring the troops home”.

But standing next to a banner that read: “End The War In Iraq, Bring The Troops Home Now”, 33 year-old Anita Davis admitted that objective might seem a little unrealistic. “I don’t think this protest will get them home, but it may encourage them to get out faster,” said Davis.

Dale Locke, an accountant from Atlanta, Georgia, agreed. “My purpose in coming here today is to pressure Congress to come up with a strategy to make peace,” she said. “Staying the course is not working. I just want a solution. I can see us heading towards another Vietnam”.

The anti-war movement, which only a year ago seemed to face an overwhelming struggle, is buoyed by opinion polls that show a steady rise in scepticism about justifications for the war and the reassurances offered by the Bush administration.

In a poll taken a week ago, 59% of Americans now say the war was a mistake, an all-time high. Bush’s approval ratings are also plummeting, with the war clearly a major factor.

A growing number of Americans say that the troops need to be brought home soon, under some kind of timetable. Some Republicans in Congress are privately expressing reservations, worried about financial costs, shifting public sentiment and a gnawing suspicion that the occupation is a magnet for terrorists

Recent events in New Orleans following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina seemed to have added fuel to the protesters’ fire. Many protesters wore T-shirts that read: “Make Levees Not War”. Angry denouncements from the podium by speakers of the federal government’s relief efforts in Louisiana drew boos and hisses from the crowds.

Leenie Halbert, 32, from New Orleans, left the flooded ninth ward district yesterday to come to DC to protest. She had planned on marching in DC prior to Hurricane Katrina but said that the Bush administration’s response to relief efforts had heightened her anger.

“I can’t even begin to measure how much the hurricane has changed things for me”, said Halbert. “I’ve come here today because what they’ve done in Iraq is what they’re doing to my city right now”.