 
A
US-led War is being waged
upon the Iraqi people for power lust and corporate greed. This was
according
to the audience and those on the podium at an anti-war rally held near
the Washington Monument on Saturday Apr. 5. (GWU) Students Against the
War in Iraq [SAWI] /Campus Anti-war Network [CAN] also backed
simultaneous
rallies in Chicago and Oakland.
Protest
songs, poetry readings
and speeches reflected a similar point of view toward the current
military
conflict in Iraq. Dawn DC’s ‘Brian’ asserted that President Bush had
hijacked
the Civil rights movement’s emblems of freedom and patriotism in the
pursuit
of an unjust war intended to beat the Iraqi people into submission -
Bush
is ‘getting revenge for Daddy.’ Further said Brian, America’s press is
not actually free; it is beholden to corporate interests.
Sunny
Miller from Traprockpeace
warned of the health risks associated the depleted uranium used in
armor-piercing
munitions. Birth defects and ‘reactive airway disease’ were given as
typical
consequences. Also cited was research indicating significant increases
of cancers in Iraqi children. Miller did not inform the audience that
the
study’s authors, Drs. Ali Yacoup, Imad Al-Sa, doun Genan G. Hassan
are/were
attached to Saddam’s Basra University College of Medicine. Although
anecdotal
evidence exists from ’91 Gulf War veterans and Iraqi civilians, no
independent
scientific confirmation of these and other claims of illness and side
effects
have been found.
 
Anacostia’s
[DC Public School]
Handley Elementary schoolteacher Jesse Hagopian proclaimed that while
federal
funds are spent for ‘indiscriminately dropped cluster bombs’ on
innocent
civilians, tax cuts for ‘the rich’ are being proposed at home at the
expense
of such essential needs as education. Protest singer Ryan Harvey
treated
the crowd with a new poem asserting that those who support the forcible
removal/disarmament of Saddam Hussein are “brainwashed lunatics” and
that
capitalism inevitably brings death and destruction. ‘Red’ contended
that
those in uniform didn’t join to fight in a war; they only wanted job
training.
 
George
Washington University
student ‘Maggie’ read Mark Twain’s “War Prayer.” Written in response to
the 1899-1902 Philippine War, Twain sought to quell the euphoria
attendant
to the Spanish colonialists’ defeat. When praying for victory, we are
warned;
we are also asking that enemy soldiers be torn to “bloody shreds” as
our
guns drown out the “shrieks of their wounded.” We are further asking
that
their “unoffending” widows’ hearts be wrung with “unavailing grief” as
they and their children are turned out “roofless… [in] their desolated
land in rags and hunger and thirst.”
At its
height, perhaps 250
people attended the afternoon event. A drizzly morning and forecasts of
more damp weather later may partially explain the small turnout, but
the
sun came out at about 3 p.m. The crowd was mostly subdued as other
groups
played soccer and threw Frisbees in the background. There were several
on-stage attempts to prompt anti-war chants and sing-a-longs, but these
petered out quickly. There were also some 'Honk if you want peace'
signs
facing Constitution Ave. Few car horns were heard.
There
was however, an unscheduled
addition to the program. Along a street behind the stage, ‘Harold’ was
yelling, “Boo!” and waving a sign that read “Honk if Hippies Suck!” at
the traffic. There were many honks and shouts of “YEAH!” One man with a
crew cut got out of his car and shook Harold’s hand. Several people
from
behind the stage also approached. “Are you mentally ill?” shouted Mark.
Harold responded with several choice oaths and epithets.
 
Upon
seeing that a person
with a press badge and a notepad was sidling up to question Harold, the
reporter was warned to stay away. Red-faced and trembling with anger,
Mark
insisted that Harold’s presence and views should not be recorded. His
compatriots
heartily agreed. “This is not a legitimate counterdemonstration, he’s a
disturbed person. You shouldn’t talk to him.” Upon questioning, Harold
calmly explained that he was outraged that such an event took place
while
our troops were in harm’s way. Somebody should be here to oppose them,
he said.
REFERENCES
http://traprockpeace.org/can05april03.html
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/docs/du/mr1018.7.chap3.html
http://www.iacenter.org/depleted/du_iraq.htm
http://www.antiwarnetwork.org/ |
