Pro-war rally in Des Moines

[4dsc]

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070911/NEWS11/709110400/1001/NEWS

Move America Forward group honors those serving overseas, speaks out against a drawdown.

Bagpipes blared. Tears flowed. American flags waved, and U.S. troops serving in Iraq got some strongly worded support Monday night when a national "Fight for Victory Tour" stopped at the Iowa Statehouse.

About 60 people attended the pro-troop rally in Des Moines, which was the 20th stop on a 27-city tour that will end in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 15. The caravan stops in Cedar Rapids at noon today for a rally at Veterans' Memorial Park.

"The bottom line is that America doesn't lose wars. America wins wars. ... We will not lose to radical Islam," said Buzz Patterson of Los Angeles, a retired Air Force officer who is vice chairman of Move America Forward, a conservative nonprofit group sponsoring the tour.

One opponent of the war, Kevin Kooiker, a native of Rock Rapids in northwest Iowa, stood near the back of the crowd wearing a black T-shirt that read, "Support the Troops. Bring them home." He was confronted by an unidentified woman who yelled, "You are a terrorist sympathizer. That's exactly what you are."

Kooiker, who is an emergency room doctor in Minneapolis, chuckled and called Move America Forward a "sham organization" with ties to Republicans. Johns and Patterson both denied that allegation, saying the group is nonpartisan and has no ties to the White House.

[DU9598]

1. Des Moines

A sad fact that was not included in the paper was that while the "caravan" was parking in the shadows of the capitol, the flag at the top of the capitol building flies at half staff in honor of another young Iowan killed in Iraq.

Perhaps Mr. Patterson from LA would find his time better spent in Iraq "fighting Islam" than driving his motor home across the country. I suppose we are all asked to sacrifice in different ways.

[ChicagoRonin]

2. 60 people attended?

Sounds like a pretty lame "rally". I've had house parties with more people.

[ThatsMyBarack]

3. Can't think of a better way to spend 9/11!

:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

etc.,....