Eyewitness: Thousands March to Call on Obama to End Occupation

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Stephen

By Stephen Dohnberg

Mar 27, 2009 in Politics

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By Stephen Dohnberg.

On Saturday, Mar 21, thousands of coalitions rallied in Washington to protest the Obama Administration's carryover of 'War On Terror' policies -- including an escalation in Afghanistan. It was the first major protest action since Obama's election.

Washington, D.C. - It's not much of a surprise that Arlington Police and over 1300 Anti-war organizations would differ on the turnout numbers for the ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) Coalition led anti-war protest, but if police presence was any indication (as well as careful examination of my pictures), it certainly looked like authorities were more prepared to deal with between 6 and 8 thousand marchers a opposed to the low-balled 2,500 estimate offered by official sources.

Stephen Dohnberg

protestors start their way toward pentagon

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At approximately noon on Sat. Mar 21, clearly a few thousand had gathered at 23rd and Constitution (under the shadow of the Washington Monument) to indicate dissatisfaction that the Iraq War (or occupation, depending on who's legal definition one accepts) begins it's 7th year.

The range of expression varied between reason, concern, and anger. A well organized platform of speakers included delegations from Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW),TheWorldCantWait.Org, Muslim American Society Freedom (MASF), the National Council of Arab Americans (NCA), Veterans For Peace-National (VFP) as well as pro-Palestinian, Filipino, Muslim clerics and an Iraqi poet and dozens of others who sought to express common ground on their basic disappointments in what they perceive as the new Obama administration's failure to correctly re-frame the War on Terror. Their immediate concerns include increasing apprehension over plans for a surge in Afghanistan and recent forays across the Pakistani border.

Protesters, representing hundreds of organizations, bussed in from all four corners of the United States and Canada to attend what was essentially the first mass mobilization since Barack Obama won the presidency on Nov.4,2008.

Stephen Dohnberg

protesters under the memorial bridge route

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The speeches were not dominated by simple invective against the Obama administration, however. Many people, such as Elaine Johnson, an African American mother who lost her son in Iraq, said "I'm happy to have an African American president, but it doesn't matter who's in office--we need to end the war in Afghanistan."

The sentiment was echoed by Campus Antiwar Network's (CAN) Pete Rhomberg. Describing Obama as a "president of first steps", who closed Guantánamo, but kept open the Bagram detention center in Afghanistan, and who is moving some troops from Iraq and sending them to Afghanistan. Rhomberg explained that "it's up to us" to insure these are just the first steps and not the last.

However, Sarah Sloan, national staff coordinator of ANSWER was more pointed in her assessment, stating "The cost in lives and resources is criminal regardless of whether the Democrats or Republicans are in charge of the government."

At about 1:30, marchers with signs that read "Money For Jobs and Education,Not War", and "I Can't Believe I'm Still Protesting This Crap!" joined a few dozen mock-coffins bearers displaying flags from nations such as Palestine, Syria, the United States, Sudan, Pakistan, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

Stephen Dohnberg

Arab American antiwar activist carries coffin

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The marchers snaked across the Memorial Bridge past the Pentagon, where dozens of well equipped riot police stood ground well back in case any contingency made a break from the main march and attempted to trespass on Penatgon property. The marcher's destination was Crystal City, in Arlington, Virginia - a collection of high end eating establishments and restaurants that just happens to house the offices of Kellog,Brown and Root (Haliburton), Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, and Boeing.

Protestors were met along the way by a contingent of about 12 "counter-protestors" who identified themselves as "Freepers", otherwise known by conservative website 'Freerepublic.Com'. Their signs slogans included "Al Qaeda Appeasers" and "America. Love it or Leave It. That Simple" made them appear somewhat ridiculous in the face of the thousands that basically ignored them. In fact,they looked as ridiculous as members of the Westboro Baptist Church canvassing a funeral.

Stephen Dohnberg

counter protesters appear in weak numbers - members of 'freerepublic.org' aka 'freepers'

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The line of protestors, led by a slow moving vehicle equipped with a P.A., eventually made their way to the offices of each of the corporate offices and left coffins and flowers. As IndyBay.Org confirms, the protesters were met by the Arlington County Police,

"mobilized in full riot gear in an attempt to block the demonstrators from delivering symbolic coffins at the doorsteps of the war corporations. They brought tear gas, snarling dogs and pointed guns loaded with rubber bullets directly at demonstrators."

Stephen Dohnberg

Cops in full riot gear greet protesters at the offices of major weapons systems manufacturers

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Indeed. The police in some areas were accommodating and appeared to enjoy the spectacle, while at the KBR building, riot police caused some agitation as the symbolic coffins were kicked at and some protesters and journalists shoved.

At the final stop of Lockheed Martin, protesters faced down the riot cops with a chant of "Hey, hey, you're mighty cute! Get outta that gear, get outta that suit!" which is, admittedly, one of the most hilarious protest chants I can recall and would have been instrumental during the police standoff at the St.Paul,MN, Republican National Convention in reducing the number of times I had to wash tear gas out of my eyes and dodge concussion grenades.

The D.C. march ended without any major incident at approximately 4:30 PM EDT.

Marches did occur in a number of other city centers across the United States, including Los Angeles (4,000), San Francisco (4,000), and Minneapolis (1,500).

Generally, activists and protesters within the movement expressed motivation, not deterrence, by what were lower turnouts from previous actions. "The movement is finding it's feet again, recognizing that the solution was not through the electoral arena" noted ANSWER National Coordinator Brian Becker.