Posted on 03/24/2003 5:49:23 AM PST by new cruelty
Washington (CNSNews.com) - A sea of red, white and blue, sprinkled with a few yellow ribbons, filled the area outside the Lincoln Memorial Sunday, as several hundred demonstrators gathered Sunday to show their support for President Bush and America's troops in the Persian Gulf.
The rally in the nation's capital was one of the many planned across the country in what was dubbed "Liberty Weekend." The gathering of flag-waving and sign-carrying Americans came just a day after antiwar protesters marched through the streets of Washington, D.C., carrying a very different message.
"I don't want a war," said Bobbi Chuetze of Manitowoc, Wis., who was visiting the nation's capital for the weekend. "But the Iraqi people need us to free them."
Chuetze, like many of the other speakers and demonstrators at the rally, said the large antiwar gatherings that have taken place the past several months prompted her to show up on the warm, sunny day.
The mood at Sunday's rally was in stark contrast to the Saturday gathering, which started near the White House and expanded to other parts of the city.
Police, for instance, stood armed Saturday as antiwar protesters chanted slogans opposing the war. But on Sunday, the officers were applauded by demonstrators for protecting the nation at a time of heightened security.
Northern Virginia GOP chairman James Parmelee, one of the speakers at the rally organized by the D.C. Chapter of Free Republic, chided antiwar demonstrators for criticizing the Iraq war at a time when American troops have sacrificed their lives to topple Saddam Hussein's regime.
"I thought that once the war actually started, they would realize that we are liberating Iraq," he said. "The Iraqis want us to be there.
There is still a core of folks protesting, though. They see Iraqis tearing down posters of Saddam Hussein, they see them dancing in the streets, kissing American troops, yet the antiwar protesters are still unhappy."
The procession of speakers included an impromptu appearance from a Missouri high school Junior ROTC group in town for a national competition.
The event's main attraction, Aziz al-Taee, an Iraqi-born American citizen who is chairman of the Iraqi-American Council, told a moving story about his escape to freedom in the United States. He said he is lucky to be alive since Hussein's henchmen killed both his cousin and brother-in-law.
"We want freedom and we want it now," al-Taee chanted over a loudspeaker.
While demonstrators at Saturday's protesters carried signs condemning Bush and the news media's coverage of the war, al-Taee took the opposite viewpoint. He said Hussein was the villain and Arab television channel al-Jazeera was to blame for supporting his regime.
He claimed Hussein has murdered more than 2 million Iraqis since seizing power in the 1970s. Even as the United States and its allies attempt to liberate Iraq, al-Taee said Hussein still remains a threat to the Iraqi people.
"Every day Saddam stays in power, he will use Iraqis as human shields," al-Taee said.
Rich Sweetser of Herndon, Va., said he came to the rally because of his concern for the innocent Iraqis who were suffering.
"This is my first time coming to one of these. I'm doing it because people are dying right now. It's not just the American troops and the British troops, but it's also free Iraqis, and that's a shame."
Others, like Stewart Smith of Gaithersburg, Md., want to see Iraq liberated from Hussein's control. Smith said he was inspired to show his support after seeing the front-page coverage that protesters received for their rallies throughout the United States, Europe and Asia.
"I don't think the other side, the antiwar people, should be monopolizing and getting all the attention," he said. "It's understandable that they do, because people like us are not as prone to go out into the streets like them. We don't do this very often, but sometimes it's needed."
For Joe Smith of Baltimore, Md., attending rallies in the nation's capital is his pastime. He goes to as many as he can, including Saturday's march on Washington.
"Anytime they rally against our government, I come out to support our country," he said. "If you sit down and talk to them, they ramble on about a bunch of things, but never really say anything. I asked them, 'If war isn't the answer, what is?' They rambled on for 10 minutes, but they never answered my question."
We had our best turnout yet with about one thousand people attending over the course of the two-and-a-half-hour rally. An after-action photo thread should be up tonight.
One more pic from www.lsj.com
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