Protesters Call for Return of Soldiers

Yahoo! News ^ | Apr 12, 2003 | JONATHAN D. SALANT

[El Conservador]

WASHINGTON - Having failed to keep U.S. troops out of Iraq (news - web sites), anti-war protesters are marching to bring them home.

Opponents of the conflict said U.S. troops should leave Iraq quickly rather than remain in a region once controlled by Western powers.

"Occupation is not liberation," said Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, a civil rights lawyer and an organizer of a Saturday rally in Washington sponsored by International Answer. "Whether they can conquer it militarily is one thing; whether they can turn it into an obedient client state is another."

Protesters also were gathering Saturday in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Organizers said they expected far fewer people than at previous protests, which attracted demonstrators in numbers not seen since the Vietnam War.

Demonstrators took to the streets as well in several other countries, albeit not on the scale as past protests, such as the February march in London that drew up to 2 million people.

This time, police said 20,000 demonstrators marched. Many held placards demanding "No occupation of Iraq." They paused for two minutes of silence for the victims of war and tossed bunches of yellow daffodils at the gates of Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites)'s home.

Nearly 50,000 school children and other protesters marched in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Around 4,000 gathered in Seoul, South Korea (news - web sites), to demand the government rescind its decision to send noncombat troops to help U.S.-led forces in Iraq. In Hong Kong, around 100 demonstrators chanted anti-war slogans outside the U.S. Consulate General.

Organizers in Washington obtained a permit for 20,000 demonstrators, far fewer than the tens of thousands who filled blocks of city streets in both January and March. This time, instead of marching only past the White House and Justice Department (news - web sites), the protest route ran past offices of companies that organizers said are profiting from the war and past media organizations they said ignored the plight of Iraqi civilians.

Near the antiwar rally site, hundreds of supporters of the war effort held their own rally Saturday, featuring Watergate conspirator-turned-conservative talk show host G. Gordon Liddy; Republican senator-turned-TV actor Fred Thompson; and country music singer Aaron Tippin.

The event was organized by Citizens United, headed by former congressional aide David Bossie, one of ex-President Clinton (news - web sites)'s severest critics; and Young America's Foundation, headed by Floyd Brown, architect of the Willie Horton ads that helped elect the first President Bush (news - web sites).

"I hope the troops can see us across the seas," said Bonnie Hayslip, 48, a housewife from Quakertown, Pa.

For activists, the Iraq war has overshadowed the spring meeting of the World Bank (news - web sites) and International Monetary Fund (news - web sites). While previous meetings of the financial institutions have served a magnet for thousands of demonstrators, a protest Thursday morning attracted just 20 protesters, and no more than 2,000 were expected for a march Sunday.

Security was tight for the meetings. Police closed several streets around the International Monetary Fund and World Bank headquarters, but downtown streets were quiet.

"Because of the war, everyone recognizes there's a very immediate emergency," said Soren Ambrose, a spokesman for the 50 Years Is Enough Network, a coalition of groups opposed to the two financial institutions. "The World Bank and the IMF are taking a momentary back seat."

[dighton]

"If somethin' is buggin youse stoonts -- leave us know!"

[F.J. Mitchell]

Does your lack of a sense of humor qualify you for a handicapped parking spot?

[F.J. Mitchell]

"Would you kill them then?"

I haven't killed anybody all day.

[Protagoras]

the FBI needs to investigate these assholes.....they are enemies of the country

So anyone who disagrees with you is an enemy of the country? Another "conservative" tenet, government investigations of dissenters. Amazing.

[Britton J Wingfield]

I seem to remember the last administration having people investigated. Conservatives were justifiably pissed. Now we need to hold ourselves ot our own standards.

[dfwgator]

You guys can go back to marching to Free Mumia now.

[Protagoras]

Now we need to hold ourselves ot our own standards.

Spot on.

People who say these stupid things on this forum are a freakin embarrassment .

[<1/1,000,000th%]

"Whether they can conquer it militarily is one thing; whether they can turn it into an obedient client state is another."

Just like anti-war protestors here in the US.

[Britton J Wingfield]

I originally found this site via Salon, back when they actually had some decent writers. They used to post quotes from freepers, and of course used the most embarassing nutjob ones they could find.

[Protagoras]

They used to post quotes from freepers, and of course used the most embarassing nutjob ones they could find.

They didn't have to look far. Nutty people making conservatives and libertarians look like kooks by posing as one of them and saying this stuff aren't hard to find here.