Posted on 09/25/2005 5:00:15 AM PDT by SIRTRIS
Iraq Supporters to Rebut Anti-War Rallies
WASHINGTON - Military families and other defenders of the war in Iraq were claiming their turn to demonstrate, responding to a huge war protest with a rally of their own on the National Mall.
Organizers hoped to draw several thousand people to their noontime event near the National Air and Space Museum. They acknowledged the rally would be much smaller than Saturday's anti-war protest in Washington but said their message would not be overshadowed.
"People have been fired up over the past month, especially military family members, and they want to be heard," said Kristinn Taylor, a leader of FreeRepublic.com, one of the sponsors of Sunday's event.
The pro-military rally was billed by organizers as a time to honor the troops fighting "the war on terrorism in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere around the world."
On Saturday, crowds opposed to the war in Iraq surged past the White House in the largest anti-war protest in the nation's capital since the U.S. invasion. The rally stretched through the day and night, a marathon of music, speechmaking and dissent on the National Mall.
Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey, noting that organizers had hoped to draw 100,000 people, said, "I think they probably hit that."
In the crowd were young activists, nuns whose anti-war activism dates to Vietnam, parents mourning their children in uniform lost in Iraq, and uncountable families motivated for the first time to protest.
From the stage, speakers attacked President Bush's policies head on, but he was not at the White House to hear it — he was in Colorado and Texas, monitoring hurricane recovery.
A few hundred people in a counter demonstration in support of Bush's Iraq policy lined the protest route near the FBI building. The two groups shouted, separated by a police line.
War supporters said the scale of the anti-war march didn't take away from their cause.
"It's the silent majority," said 22-year-old Stephanie Grgurich of Leesburg, Va., who has a brother serving in Iraq.
The war protest in the capital showcased a series of demonstrations in foreign and other U.S. cities from Vermont to California.
A crowd in London, estimated by police at 10,000, marched in support of withdrawing British troops from Iraq. In Rome, dozens of protesters held up banners and peace flags outside the U.S. Embassy and covered a sidewalk with messages and flowers in honor of those killed in Iraq.
There, I fixed it. I'm sure AP just forgot to add that last part.
Not sure if I have it correct....
BILL CLINTON! THIS IS THE POLICE. WE HAVE YOUR SURROUNDED. PUT DOWN THAT INTERN, PULL UP YOUR PANTS, AND COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP!!
"THOSE WERE THE GOOD OLD DAYS...."
LOL. Good job.
I am grateful that this piece appeared at all, but it is irresponsible how the media so downplays the unsavory nature of the organizations that play a big part in these protests, as opposed to the average protester whose sincerity I don't doubt (wisdom a different story).
I am proud to be on this side. Look at the savory nature of the organizations on our side - Gold Store Families et al.
Hail o ye leaders;)
You are a simpleton not a nut.
But at least he didn't post a vanity thread...
Where are the Viking Kitties when we need them?
Bring on the viking kitties!!!
Clinton's lies got about 4000 Americans killed..WTC, Cole, Kobar, Somalia, US embassies in Africa..but hang on to your delusional thoughts...they can keep you warm and fuzzy at night..
Clinton's impeachment was unconstitutional. I really wish the left kooks would wake up & realize that subverting a citizens due process rights by commiting perjury about sex is the same as subverting due process by lying about murder. Clinton's impeachment was based on his abuse of the Constitution, and that is one of the very few justifiable acts for impeachement. don't forget too, he was a lawyer, a president & a husband . if such a personal matter why lie because of ethics, to the nation & his wife?
That old chant still gets to them..simply amazing..and priceless..
Keep drinking the kool-aid sweetie.
Your inability to apply logic and facts to the current situation in Iraq betrays your IQ.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.