At least 160 arrested at Iraq protest

WASHINGTON - Several thousand anti-war demonstrators marched through downtown Washington on Saturday, clashing with police at the foot of the Capitol steps where at least 160 protesters were arrested.

The group marched from the White House to the Capitol to demand an end to the Iraq war. Their numbers stretched for blocks along Pennsylvania Avenue, and they held banners and signs and chanted, "What do we want? Troops out. When do we want it? Now."

Army veteran Justin Cliburn, 25, of Lawton, Okla., was among a contingent of Iraq veterans in attendance.

"We're occupying a people who do not want us there," Cliburn said of Iraq. "We're here to show that it isn't just a bunch of old hippies from the 60s who are against this war."

Counterprotesters lined the sidewalks behind metal barricades. There were some heated shouting matches between the two sides.

The arrests came after protesters lay down on the Capitol lawn in what they called a "die in" — with signs on top of their bodies to represent soldiers killed in Iraq. When police took no action, some of the protesters started climbing over a barricade at the foot of the Capitol steps.

Many were arrested without a struggle after they jumped over the waist-high barrier. But some grew angry as police with shields and riot gear attempted to push them back. At least two people were showered with chemical spray. Protesters responded by throwing signs and chanting: "Shame on you."

The number of arrests by Capitol Police on Saturday was much higher than previous anti-war rallies in Washington this year. Five people were arrested at a protest outside the Pentagon in March when they walked onto a bridge that had been closed off to accommodate the demonstration, then refused to leave. And at a rally in January, about 50 demonstrators blocked a street near the Capitol, but they were dispersed without arrests.

The protesters gathered earlier Saturday near the White House in Lafayette Park with signs saying "End the war now" and calling for President Bush's impeachment. The rally was organized by the ANSWER Coalition and other groups.

Organizers estimated that more than 100,000 people attended the rally and march. That number could not be confirmed; police did not give their own estimate. But there appeared to be tens of thousands of people in attendance.

"It's time to lay our bodies on the line and say we've had enough," she said. "It's time to shut this city down."

About 13 blocks away, nearly 1,000 counterprotesters gathered near the Washington Monument, frequently erupting in chants of "U-S-A" and waving American flags.

Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Robert "Buzz" Patterson, speaking from a stage to crowds clad in camouflage, American flag bandanas and Harley Davidson jackets, said he wanted to send three messages.

"Congress, quit playing games with our troops. Terrorists, we will find you and kill you," he said. "And to our troops, we're here for you, and we support you."

Carl Messineo, Mara Verheyden-Hilliard and Brian Becker of the ANSWER Coalition

the Partnership for Civil Justice, a civil rights litigation firm, filed a Freedom of Information Act request on behalf of the ANSWER Coalition and the National Lawyers Guild. The request demands information maintained by the Pentagon on anti-war protests and political activists and leaders.

ANSWER Coalition national coordinator Brian Becker agrees: “The Pentagon and other government agencies are routinely violating the First Amendment rights of people in the United States who are coming together to demand an end to the criminal war and occupation in Iraq. No amount of government intimidation can stop the anti-war movement, now that opposition to the war has become a majority sentiment.”

Becker continued, “ExxonMobil and Enron, and voted for this war. This is corporate democracy.”

Becker who routinely visits North Korea and Iraq and consults with those dictatorships.

Becker is a member of the secretariat of the Workers World Party who is an admirer of two of the most egregious mass murderers of modernity — Kim Il Sung and Saddam Hussein

the Stalinist, genocide worshiping, Workers World Party is the organization that operates ANSWER and IAC

Clark, in particular is a megalomaniac. He feels that his organization (IAC) could be a people’s United Nations.

anti-American rally was self-evident because one of the speakers said that in Korea anti-war rallies are known as "f-cking America rallies."

The speaker who uttered this invective was Yoomi Choong of the Korea Truth Commission (KTC). Ms.Choong is the Deputy Secretary General of the KTC, which is affiliated with the International Action Center (IAC), which is affiliated with International ANSWER. All of these groups are affiliated with the Workers World Party (WWP). The WWP is a staunch advocate of Kim Jong Il.

Brian Becker was a principal organizer of the anti-American rally. Becker is a Director of ANSWER, and the IAC. He is a member of the Secretariat of the WWP of the United States as well. Both Becker and Choong availed themselves of the opportunity to spew their venom during the rally. Our boy in Pyongyang, Brian Becker, called the President a liar. Becker’s wife introduced a new group: Doctors and Nurses Against the War. If you listen to the speakers that Becker arranged, America is an imperialistic nation. Their main theme was that this was all about oil-a theory developed by the WWP some years ago.

Becker is very involved with North Korea. He denounced the U.S. last March during a press interview held in Pyongyang before his departure from North Korea. Becker accused the United States of systematically, maliciously, and intentionally murdering Korean civilians in a campaign of genocide. Of course, one would have to wonder why it is that a lot of South Koreans have immigrated to the United States if we were responsible for killing all those innocent Koreans. You would think they would be going to North Korea instead.

The IAC established a Korean War Crimes Tribunal at the Riverside Church in New York City. The Riverside Church is active in anti-American campaigns. Incidentally, this tribunal was endorsed by Al-Awda, "the Palestinian Right to Return Coalition."

Among Becker’s board memberships, association memberships, and executive activities is his chairmanship of the U.S. Troops out of Korea Committee. Last March, after a meeting in Paris, Becker was elected vice-chairman of the Committee of the International Liaison for Reunification and Peace in Korea (CILRECO). This is quite an impressive resume.

International ANSWER/IAC/WWP is a significant participant to promote the cause of Kim Jung Il and North Korea. Becker’s executive status with CILRECO and the U.S. Troops out of Korea Committee, and their sponsorship of the Korea Truth Commission ensure that they will be attempting to make US policies favor North Korea.

The New York Times and Alan Colmes do not consider it newsworthy to mention that International ANSWER is affiliated with a communist organization dedicated to destroying America. Nor do they consider it newsworthy to mention the hatred of the president, and American culture in general, which was a staple of the rally.

FrontPageMag.com

“Meant to post that that was in 1971.”

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In his autobiography “Right Turns” conservative cultural critic and movie reviewer Michael Medved noted that the glorious anti-war movement ended virtually overnight when Pres. Nixon ended the draft.

That was the real reason Charlie Rangel and his ilk wanted to bring back the draft—paralyze the military by filling it with unwilling conscripts AND bring back those Happy Golden Days of Rage. “Hell no, we won’t go!!”

Sniff, Memories,
Light the corners of my mind
Misty water-colored memories
Of the way we were...

occupying a country that didn't attack us

Somebody needs to tell this moron that Germany didn't have anything to do with the attack on Pearl Harbor (Hitler and his top generals didn't even know where Pearl Harbor was), yet we went to war against Germany and occupied that nation after the war.

"it takes balls not to go when you don't agree. The courage to resist is oftentimes more honorable than the courage to enter a foxhole."

B.S. It takes courage to return to the front lines after being wounded, yet there are hundreds of soldiers and marines with one or two, and sometimes three, Purple Hearts who are demanding to be allowed to return to Iraq or Afghanistan so that they can serve alongside their buddies.

The son of one of my coworkers had his hand badly mangled in an IED attack two years ago and had to endure seven operations to repair the damage. He was beyond steamed when his unit redeployed a few months ago and he had to stay behind because the doctors wouldn't certify him for deployment. Since then, he has pushed himself to the limits to pass the next round of testing, which he did just this past week. He's down at Camp Shelby right now, getting ready to head over sometime in the next few weeks.

His mom is pretty scared, but she is also extremely proud of him.

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