September 15 Anti-War Protest to Be ‘Unlike Any Other’
By Nathan Burchfiel, CNSNews.com Staff Writer
September 13, 2007
(CNSNews.com) – Organizers of an anti-war protest scheduled for Sept. 15 said Wednesday that the demonstration will be “unlike any other” as activists gather to demand an immediate end to the war.The protest, organized by Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER), begins with a rally near the White House, continues with a march to the U.S. Capitol, and concludes with a “die-in” that organizers estimate will involve approximately 1,000 people lying down near the Capitol in a symbolic effort to represent dead U.S. soldiers and dead Iraqis.Brian Becker, ANSWER’s national coordinator, told reporters at a news conference Wednesday that the demonstration “will be unlike any other anti-war protest in recent years because it will culminate in a massive civil disobedience,” referring to the “die-in.” He said the volunteers who have signed up online to participate in the demonstration are risking arrest by participating. The group expects “tens of thousands” to protest the war.”Seventy percent [of Americans] support the immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces,” Becker said. “You’ll see on Saturday that not only have people in general turned against the war, but the Iraq war veterans, the soldiers and Marines, their family members … are turning more and more decisively against the Bush administration’s endless lies in pursuit of endless war,” he said.A Sept. 8 CBS/New York Times poll found that 30 percent of Americans supported removing all troops from Iraq, while 35 percent supported decreasing the troop presence there. The poll did not ask respondents about a timeframe for withdrawal.A Sept. 7 ABC/Washington Post poll found that 55 percent of Americans would support legislation setting a spring 2008 deadline for withdrawing troops, while 41 percent would oppose such a measure.Adam Kokesh, co-chair of Iraq Veterans Against the War, said civil disobedience was necessary because “asking, pleading, begging for change is not sufficient.” He said participants in the protest are “willing to step it up, they’re willing to make sacrifices.”He said the demonstration would send a message to elected officials that “if you do not take our demands seriously, we will be in the streets, we will be shutting down the machine.”Other anti-war activists said they hoped the civil disobedience will inspire other Americans to get involved in the anti-war movement. “When they see us, they see us physically resisting this war and occupation, it inspires them to do more,” said Tina Richards, CEO of Grassroots America.Cindy Sheehan — the Gold Star mother whose son, Army Spec. Casey Sheehan, was killed in Iraq — has come out of anti-war movement “retirement” to participate in the protest.She is also challenging House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for her seat in the House of Representatives in the 2008 election because of Pelosi’s failure to bring an end to the war.”If the rest of America heard about it,” Sheehan said of the protest efforts scheduled for the weekend, “it might really start a revolution.”Anti-war activists aren’t the only ones scheduled to be in the nation’s capital over the weekend. On Saturday, members of the Gathering of Eagles (GOE) and other supporters of the war will stage a counter-demonstration and rally.Dubbed “Operation Eagle Justice,” the GOE events will start with a rally on the National Mall and conclude with a counter-demonstration along the ANSWER march route. “As ANSWER and their allies in the hate-America crowd will stumble by, we will treat them to some good old-fashioned, red-blooded American ‘free speech,’” the group says on its Web site.Families United for Our Troops and Their Mission, a group of Gold Star and Blue Star families, will have a small presence at the GOE rally, according to National Chair Merilee Carlson. But the group’s main events will come in the days following anti-war efforts.Carlson said 500 Families United members will visit Washington to tour the city, visit war memorials and participate in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday. Members will tour the U.S. Capitol and meet with elected officials Tuesday.”Frankly, the fact that we are dedicating ourselves to serving our country at the Arlington National Cemetery, that is how we offset something as despicable as the march and the die-in,” Carlson told Cybercast News Service, explaining why Families United won’t have a large presence at the Sept. 15 march.”That’s not the way Families United works. That’s not the way our families are,” she said. “These people are so excited to be coming to visit these historical places, to visit the monuments and get firsthand the feel for the heritage of our country, and it’s so positive and so supportive, and they’re just simply amazing.”
