War Protesters Seek to Put Heat on Bush

[brettdale]

"Good story, but Why the heck was freeperville mention in the links?"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050923/ap_on_go_pr_wh/war_protest

War Protesters Seek to Put Heat on Bush

WASHINGTON - Anti-war groups are using a $1 million ad campaign and a demonstration they say will attract 100,000 people to try to re-energize their movement and pressure the Bush administration to bring troops home from Iraq.



Organizers of Saturday's protest, which will take marchers past the White House, say it will be the largest since the war began more than two years ago.

Cindy Sheehan, the woman who drew thousands of protesters to her 26-day vigil outside President Bush's Texas ranch last month, is among those planning to participate.

"We want to show Congress, the president and the administration that this peace movement is thriving," said Sheehan, whose 24-year-old son, Army Spc. Casey Sheehan, was killed last year in Iraq. "We mean business and we're not going to go away until our troops come home."

On Thursday, Bush said withdrawing troops right now would make the world more dangerous.

"The only way the terrorists can win is if we lose our nerve and abandon the mission," he said. "For the safety and security of the American people, that's not going to happen on my watch."

Bush did not plan to be in Washington on Saturday, but he will have support on the streets. The groups FreeRepublic.com and Protest Warrior plan their own demonstration on Saturday, with hundreds expected to join in.

"We made a vow after Sept. 11 that we would not allow the anti-American left to do to us this time what they did during Vietnam, which was wear down the morale of the American," FreeRepublic spokesman Kristinn Taylor said.

Taylor said a larger rally Sunday on the National Mall would honor military families.

The public has grown uneasy with the war throughout the summer, and the financial pressures of recovering from Hurricane Katrina, and possibly Rita, could add to that.

Almost two-thirds of those surveyed said they thought the U.S. was spending too much in Iraq, according to an AP-Ipsos poll taken after Katrina. About the same number of respondents said they were not confident how the money would be spent. Almost six in 10 said the U.S. made a mistake in invading Iraq, but less than half wanted to withdraw all forces immediately.

The anti-war effort gained notice last month with Sheehan's protest in Crawford, Texas. But the devastation caused by Katrina, and the government's slow response, have dominated the news the past several weeks.

Still, Brian Becker, national coordinator for ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), says people have not forgotten about the war.

"People are very angry at the Bush administration," Becker said.

The anti-war groups began an advertising campaign Thursday, sponsored by the Win Without War coalition, with an advertisement in The Washington Post and other newspapers. The left side of the double-page ad pictures Bush and administration officials with quotes about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq under the headline "They lied." The right side lists the names of American military personnel killed in Iraq with the headline "They died."

A television spot, sponsored by Gold Star Families for Peace, is running on Fox News Channel and local cable TV. The TV ad features Cindy Sheehan and other relatives of soldiers killed in Iraq.

Police are prepared for a large demonstration, said Sgt. Scott Fear of the U.S. Park Police.

Days off have been canceled for officers. Reinforcements are coming from New York. Fear said the full force would be on hand, but he would not provide the number of officers.

Police do not anticipate any trouble on Saturday, he said.

"We meet with these organizers over and over again," said Fear. "We don't expect problems. We expect it to be a peaceful demonstration."

The war protests will coincide with planned demonstrations against the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, which hold their annual meetings this weekend. Anti-globalization protesters will eventually join the marchers opposing the Iraq war.

ANSWER and United for Peace and Justice are the main anti-war organizers. The protest will start with a rally at the Ellipse with speakers including Sheehan, actress Jessica Lange and the Rev. Al Sharpton.

Protesters will march to the front of the White House down to the Justice Department and then circle back to the Washington Monument for a concert featuring folk singer Joan Baez.

Other protests are planned Saturday in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle.

___

Associated Press writers Rebecca Carroll and Will Lester contributed to this report.

___

On the Net:

ANSWER Coalition: http://www.answercoalition.org

United for Peace and Justice: http://www.unitedforpeace.org

Protest Warrior: http://www.protestwarrior.com

FreeRepublic.com: http://www.freerepublic.com

[Independent_Liberal]

1. Kick!

[ForrestGump]

2. Sergeant Fear? I'd be worried, but it sounds like he has no fear

of things turning sour. A good thing, 'cos I'd hate for us to have nothing to fear but Fear himself.

Anyway, that's it...I've done my bit of playing with the dude's name, so no more such juvenile carryings-on from me.









What? Sergeant Rock wasn't available?



Oops...sorry...that's Sergeant Rock 'n' Roll.




All done now. Promise. Fear not...

[brettdale]

3. another protest

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N22581201.htm

WASHINGTON, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Anti-globalization protesters will again descend on the U.S. capital this week to demonstrate against the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, but this time they'll have to share the streets with anti-war activists.

The anti-globalization showing is unlikely to compare to 1999 "Battle for Seattle," where marchers broke up World Trade Organization talks. A shift in focus to the Iraq war and the Bush presidency has slowed the movement's momentum.

"Definitely the level of energy is picking up, but it still hasn't recovered to the levels it was at in April 2000," said Basav Sen of the Washington-based Mobilization for Global Justice, referring to the Washington IMF meetings where some 1,300 activists were arrested.

The demonstrations will start with a mock "wedding" on Thursday between the Pentagon and the World Bank. The stunt, intended to highlight the fact that the architect of the U.S. war against Iraq, Paul Wolfowitz, took the World Bank's helm in June, indicates lines between the two movements are blurring.

"The U.S. military went into Iraq and created conflict and opened up the Iraqi economy, the work force and the natural resources to the World Bank and IMF policies to benefit U.S.-based contractors," said Hope Chu from anti-IMF group Fifty Years is Enough.

The anti-IMF contingent will march on Saturday to a demonstration led by the anti-war movement's best-known figure, Cindy Sheehan, whose son was killed in Iraq and who camped outside President George W. Bush's Texas ranch during his August vacation.

The anti-IMF protesters will also join a peace festival in front of the Washington Monument on Sunday, but they say they won't let their message be overshadowed.

They plan to block intersections on Sunday to hinder IMF delegates from attending meetings.

"We'll have sufficient staffing to deal with just about any contingency," said Capt. Jeffrey Harold of the Washington Police Department's special operations division.

"The anti-war protests, we're expecting to be peaceful," Harold added. "The IMF (protests), except for April 2000, (have) been fairly small."

Anti-war group United for Peace and Justice says the number of anti-war marchers could exceed 100,000.

That the anti-war march comes over the IMF weekend is pure coincidence, said Bill Dobbs, media coordinator for the group, which initially planned a demonstration in New York for early September.

"In the summer, it really started to catch on," he said. "Suddenly, there was a lot more talking about the war and in the end of summer, there were vigils around the country connected with Cindy Sheehan's action in Texas and that brought in familiar faces and new faces."

[Moderator]

4. brettdale

Per DU copyright rules
please post only four
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