Days after Gen. David Petraeus gave Congress his muchanticipated
assessment of the Iraq war, tens of thousands
gathered in Washington, D.C., Sept. 15 to demonstrate
their views of the war.
“This is one of those rare opportunities where regular
people can make a difference by going into what is now
sort of a split among the rulers to make our voice heard,”
said Bill Hackwell, a Vietnam veteran and spokesman for
one of the organizing bodies of the march, the Act Now to
End War and Racism coalition.
More than 190 protestors were
arrested when the demonstration,
which began in front of the White
House, ended on the steps of Congress.
“ (Arrests) haven’t happened in a long time,”
said Dan Wipert, president of
VCU’s chapter of Students for
a Democratic Society. “It shows
that people are becoming very fed up
with the situation.”
Wipert, along with about 15 members of the VCU group,
attended the protest. No one from VCU was arrested.
The day began only a football field’s length from 1600
Pennsylvania Ave. around noon. Activists, such as Ralph
Nader and Cindy Sheehan, addressed a growing crowd in
Lafayette Park that formed drum circles and chanted such
phrases as, “Show me what democracy looks like. This is
what democracy looks like!”
Next came the march, which anti-war Iraq veterans and
military families led.
“I’ve been talking to (Iraq) vets, and many of them find
themselves homeless or without jobs, and they are hell-bent
on getting to D.C. to show opposition to the war,” Hackwell
said a few days before the protest.
All eight lanes of Pennsylvania Avenue were full for
blocks. At some points about 1,000 counter-protesters
lined the sidewalks and shouted that the protesters were
“un-American,” among other things.
After arriving at the Capitol, some protesters lay on the
lawn and placed signs on top of their bodies to represent
soldiers killed in Iraq, as part of what they called a “die-in.”
Organizers reported that 5,000 people participated in this
expression of opposition.
Arrests came soon after when people jumped over police
barricades and headed toward the Capitol steps. Most of
the arrests occurred without incident; at least two people,
however, were pepper-sprayed.
The march and “die-in” were the beginning of an entire
week of activism. Various groups this week have launched
events with similar themes, including a National Truth in
Recruiting Day, a Congressional Occupation Day and a
Veterans Lobbying Day.
Earlier last week, President
Bush announced that
30,000 troops would be
home by next summer. To
organizers and many of the
protesters, 30,000 troops
are not nearly enough.
The ANSWER coalition’s
official position is that the
war should end now.
Wipert said he and
Students for a Democratic
Society hope the war will
end soon, but “immediate
withdrawal is like
suicide.”
VCU’s SDS will continue
to attend Washington protests in the coming months
and will participate in a monthly local protest called the
Iraq Moratorium, the first of which will be Friday. Other
groups around the country will hold coinciding protests.