Critical Times

TENS of thousands of anti-war demonstrators marched in New York overnight, demanding the immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq and vowing a summer of protests ahead of mid-term elections in November.
The protesters included national figures like civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon and the prominent anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan.

The mass rally was organised by a broad coalition of groups representing veterans, trade unions, military families, environmentalists and civil rights activists.

The police declined to offer an estimate for the size of the protest, while organisers claimed the turnout was as high as 300,000.

“This is what democracy looks like,” said chief organiser Leslie Cagan, national coordinator of the anti-war lobby United for Peace and Justice.

“We are here to send a message to the White House and the Congress that we must end this war now, bring our troops home and also end the attack on our civil rights at home,” Cagan said.

While the main focus of the march was Iraq, Mr Cagan said the rally was also aimed at protesting any plans for military intervention in Iran and at setting the domestic political agenda ahead of the congressional elections later in the year.

“Today we march, tomorrow we organise and in November we vote,” Mr Cagan told cheering supporters.

Police were out in force as the demonstration wound its way through lower Manhattan toward City Hall.

“Our sole aim is to facilitate the march,” said Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.

The protest was held a day after the Pentagon announced that 69 US soldiers had died in Iraq in April, and many marchers carried photos of family members killed while serving in the armed forces since the war began.

“We need to bring the soldiers back,” said Ms Sarandon. “And we also need to stop all this money being poured into this horrible crime of a war, so that it can be used where it’s urgently needed at home.”

Ms Sheehan, who became a leading anti-war activist after her soldier son was killed in Iraq, said the massive turnout for the march reflected a growing groundswell of US public opinion against continued military involvement in Iraq.

“We are not the fringe anymore. We are mainstream America,” said Ms Sheehan, who gained prominence when she camped outside President George W. Bush’s Texas ranch last year to demand a meeting with the US leader.

“To be anti-George Bush is to be pro-American,” she said.

Another prominent participant in the march was Daniel Ellsberg, the former military analyst who precipitated a national uproar in 1971 when he leaked the Pentagon Papers, the US military’s account of activities during the Vietnam War, to The New York Times.

The release of the documents succeeded in substantially eroding public support for the war, and Ellsberg urged those in the Bush administration opposed to the current policy in Iraq to follow his example.

“My message is: Don’t just resign. Leak,” Mr Ellsberg said. “I don’t think George Bush is stupid. I think he’s dangerous, and he has to be stopped.”

After reaching City Hall, the organisers held a five-hour festival, during which they sought signatures for a “Peace Voter Pledge,” vowing not to vote for any candidate in the November elections who does not publicly call for a speedy end to military involvement in Iraq.

Thousands demand end to war
by Giles Hewitt in New York
April 30, 2006