Anti-war protest in US
Narayan Lakshman
On the seventh anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, thousands of
people from across the United States on Saturday converged on Lafayette
Square, opposite the White House in Washington DC. The rally then
marched through downtown DC, halting en route at the premises of
military contractor Halliburton, the Mortgage Bankers Association and
The Washington Post offices.
Anti war protests |
While the protest drew a smaller crowd than the tens of thousands who
marched during the final years of the Bush administration, the ANSWER
coalition, the main organizer, said momentum was building due to
disenchantment with President Obama's troop surge decision for
Afghanistan. Other participating groups included Veterans for Peace,
Military Families Speak Out and the National Council of Arab Americans
and activists such as Ralph Nader and Cindy Sheehan.
In a statement the ANSWER coalition said: People from all over the
country are organising to converge on Washington, DC, and on the West
Coast to demand the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all US and
NATO forces from Afghanistan and Iraq." Instead of war, we will demand
funds so that every person can have a job, free and universal health
care, decent schools, and affordable housing, said the coalition
statement.
According to some reports the rally could prove to be significant as
it was the "first massive, nationally coordinated effort to challenge US
foreign policy since President Obama took office." Though the costs and
scope of US military engagements have expanded under Obama, the anti-war
movement has thus far been largely silent since January 2008.
However with Saturday's protest march, the movement signalled that it
had revived and was capable of challenging the Obama administration on
its foreign policy strategies.
The ANSWER coalition said though "the enthusiasm and desire for
change after eight years of the Bush regime was the dominant cause that
led to election of a big Democratic Party majority in both Houses of
Congress and the election of Barack Obama to the White House, (it was
now) obvious to all that waiting for politicians to bring real change,
is simply a prescription for passivity by progressives and an invitation
to the array of corporate interests from military contractors to the
banks, to big oil, to the health insurance giants that dominate the
political life of the country." It is time to be back in the streets,
the ANSWER 0statement added.
- The Hindu |