Anti-War Protesters Gather in D.C., S.F.

UPDATE: In D.C., a Diverse Mix Renews War Protest (Washington Post Sunday)
Up now: New Photos from DC

UPDATE: 1000s of Protesters, Chants of "Impeach Bush" (ABC 10/26)

UPDATE: Link To Pics Of SF Protest - DC Pics

By JENNIFER C. KERR, Associated Press Writer

Global Free Press salutes all attendees putting into practice our birth RIGHT :toast:

UK Protesters Aim to Humiliate Bush Like Saddam

Troops' relatives speak out as death toll rises and morale falls

Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington Saturday October 25, 2003 The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk

Dear Mom... Emails from the war zone

From a female member of the National Guard serving in northern Iraq "I don't see anything wrong with doing whatever it takes to stay alive. There is nothing sacred about kids with guns. There is nothing sacred about anybody trying to kill anybody else, it don't matter how old they are. I hate this shit ... I don't mind Iraq, I don't mind war, but I absolutely hate the situation I'm in, and I'm beginning to hate most of the people I'm surrounded by."

From a reservist serving as a mechanic near Baquba "I was offered to go on a convoy today but I did not go. They came back late tonight, and it turns out that the Iraqi people opened fire on them from a rooftop in a small town. We returned, but did not kill any of them, no one was hurt. This happens all the time. No one really aimed at the enemy. You just get scared and pull the trigger and open up in the direction you think they are firing from."

From an artilleryman's wife "The morning they shipped out they handed them their papers and things were missing that were supposed to be in there. Now I talk to him via the computer because the phones are never working. I'm on anti-depressants and sleeping pills. I try to make it through the day without crying but lately that's impossible. I never thought that this would be so hard. I wake wondering if my husband is still alive and I turn on the news to see more soldiers dead in Iraq."

From a reservist from Indiana "Everyone hears that morale is high and it is a bold-faced lie. The only people they ever talk to are these commanders. The reserve soldiers never get to speak their mind. We are the pawns of this war. We watch the active duty retire, and move to new assignments. We watch their tours end as we are still trapped because of poor post-war planning."

October 25 Schedule of Protests and Events

by dc imc

9am-12noon: Great Black Peace March & Mini Festival - Malcolm X Park (Meridian Hill)
10:30am: Radical/Syndicalist Labor - Ellipse, under Black Cat banner
11am: Washington DC Teacher Union - new Convention Center
11am: "Peace for Palestine" Feeder March - Farragut Square (K & Connecticut, NW)

11am: Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation Feeder March - Farragut Square, 17th & K, NW
11am: United for Peace & Justice/ANSWER Rally & March - Washington Monument, 17th & Constitution
11:30am: Anti-Capitalist Call to Action! - 7th & P st, NW
11:30am: Self-Determination for DC and Iraq! Percussion Protest and Feeder March - Euclid & 15th St corner of Malcolm X Park (Meridian Hill Park)
12noon: Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Straight Allies Rally for Peace - 15th and Constitution
12:30pm: Art Bloc, Harmonicas Against the War, Poets Against War Convergence - 17th & Constitution, Ellipse side
12:30ish pm: Bike Bloc in Support of Mass March - Dupont Circle
4-9pm: The Washington Conference on Civil Liberties in America - UDC, Main Auditorium Bldg 46 West, Connecticut Ave & Van Ness St., NW
6pm: International Solidarity Movement Benefit Show #2 - St. Aloysious Church, 19 Eye St NW at North Capitol (Union Station metro)
8pm: radio cpr cabaret - La Casa, 3166 Mt. Pleasant St. NW

Busloads Converge in Washington for Anti-War Protest

By Niala Boodhoo
Reuters
Saturday, October 25, 2003; 7:34 AM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15372-2003Oct25.html

Demonstrators from more than 145 U.S. cities poured into Washington Saturday for the first major peace protest since President Bush declared an end to major combat in the war on Iraq.

Small groups of protesters carrying signs demanding an end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq gathered outside the U.S. Capitol building and across downtown Washington, heading toward the National Mall for a late-morning rally followed by a march to surround the White House.

A similar rally and protest were also planned for San Francisco.

Guerrillas fighting the U.S.-led occupation have killed 108 U.S. soldiers since May 1, when Bush declared major combat in Iraq over. Peace activists said increasing concerns about casualties in Iraq have spurred the U.S. anti-war movement back into action after months of relative quiet.

"We will see ... the largest number of people since May 1 coming back into the streets to say no to the Iraq occupation and no to the Bush administration's foreign policy," Brian Becker, a spokesman for organizing group International ANSWER, said.

War protesters converge on D.C.

By Jennifer C. Kerr, Associated Press, 10/25/2003

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2003/10/25/war_protesters_converge_on_dc/

WASHINGTON -- Protesters began converging on the nation's capital yesterday for what they hope will be the largest antiwar demonstration since the fall of Baghdad. ADVERTISEMENT

Organizers expected tens of thousands of people would turn out today in Washington for a march and speeches calling for the removal of US forces from Iraq. Thousands of demonstrators also were expected to flock to San Francisco at the same time for the largest protest there since April, when more than 10,000 people filled the streets.

"The US government has no right to try and recolonize Iraq," said Peta Lindsay, national youth and student coordinator for International ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), which organized the protests with another group, United for Peace and Justice.

The Washington chapter of Free Republic, an independent grassroots conservative group, also planned a rally for today at the Capitol, where organizers expect about 1,000 people.

"We support our troops and the commander in chief and their mission," said Kristinn Taylor, coleader of Free Republic.

Thousands Rally for End to War in Iraq

By JENNIFER C. KERR, Associated Press Writer

http://story.news.yahoo.com

-snip- The protest in Washington drew a diverse crowd — young, old, veterans, relatives with loved ones in the armed forces and American Muslims. An activist group of older women called the Raging Grannies, singing anti-Bush songs, brought whoops of agreement from the protesters.

Organizers estimated that 100,000 people turned out for the demonstration, but police at the scene put the number much lower, from 10,000 to 20,000. Police no longer issue official crowd estimates, so the size of the protest could not be verified.

-snip- The D.C. chapter of Free Republic, an independent grass-roots conservative group, gathered a few dozen people at the U.S. Capitol to show support for Bush and the troops in Iraq. -snip-

In D.C., a Diverse Mix Renews War Protest

http://www.washingtonpost.com

By Manny Fernandez Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 26, 2003; Page A08

-snips-

Tens of thousands of antiwar demonstrators marched in Washington yesterday to call for an end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq, turning out in smaller numbers than for prewar protests but making plain their opposition during a noisy yet peaceful procession.

From a stage on the Mall and along a route that ringed the Washington Monument, the White House and the Justice Department, protesters lodged an array of grievances against the Bush administration's domestic and foreign policies, including the financial and human costs of the occupation and the effect of the Patriot Act on civil liberties.....

The demonstrators represented a diverse mix of dissent, from suburban high school students to gray-haired retirees, from fathers pushing their children in strollers to Muslim American college students shouting through bullhorns. There were people from D.C. Poets Against the War, the Louisville Peace Action Community, Northern Virginians for Peace and Central Ohioans for Peace, among many others. Banners in Spanish, Korean, Urdu, Hebrew, Arabic and Tagalog decried the war. Smaller marches began at various locations in the city and led to the main rally, including those organized by Muslim American and by African American activists.

....Becker and other organizers said yesterday's turnout exceeded their expectations, and they estimated the attendance at 100,000, with crowds on the march route spilling over what they described as 23 Washington blocks.... ....large number of veterans and military families with loved ones in Iraq participated....