"Heheheh!!! They'll never catch up to me with this!"
Posted on 09/29/2002 4:43:37 PM PDT by HAL9000
WASHINGTON, Sep 29, 2002 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- Thousands of people opposing a war with Iraq marched to the residence of Vice President Dick Cheney on Sunday, culminating three days of smaller-than-expected demonstrations.Protesters, some holding signs that said "No Blood for Oil," blamed Cheney for pushing the nation toward war. Police estimated about 2,500 people turned out for the peaceful event.
Demonstrator threats to shut down the nation's capital and disrupt meetings of world financial leaders during the weekend fell flat and all protesters had evaporated from city streets by dusk Sunday.
However, protest organizers insisted their goals were met: drawing attention to those seeking more money for global AIDS research and calling for changes in world economic policies.
"It's been a highly successful couple of days," said David Levy, who was the only protest organizer to show up for a Sunday morning news conference to evaluate the demonstrations.
Police had prepared for as many as 20,000 demonstrators, but during the largest event, on Saturday, a much smaller number filled a five-block long stretch of a four-lane street as they shouted opposition to policies of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, which were holding their annual meetings nearby.
"No, we didn't change the state of the global economy," said Zoe Baldwin, 21, a college senior from Garfield, N.J. "The main purpose for most of these demonstrations, it's basically a huge outreach tool."
Meetings of global financial institutions have been a magnet to violence-scarred protests since 1999, when anti-globalization protesters clashed with police in Seattle. In April 2000, Washington police arrested about 1,300 people during demonstrations against the IMF and World Bank. There were fewer than 700 arrests this year, almost all of them people who gathered in a park Friday without a permit to demonstrate.
The World Bank and IMF scaled back this year's September meeting from a week to two days to trim security costs. The finance ministers return to Washington in the spring, but next year's larger annual fall meeting is to be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
"Heheheh!!! They'll never catch up to me with this!"
At work. The leftist groups can take off in the middle of the day for a meaningless protest march because they all collect welfare checks.
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.