IRAQ WAR COST
(JavaScript Error)
Staten Island NY 10301
718-989-2881
pasi.eblast@gmail.com
|
|
IRAQ WAR COST
(JavaScript Error)
|
PO Box 201, St. George Station Staten Island NY 10301 718-989-2881 pasi.eblast@gmail.com |
| home • act now • speakers • PASI IN ACTION • flyers • links • messages • why • process • join • contact | ||||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||
ISLANDERS ADD THEIR VOICES TO D.C. ANTI-WAR PROTEST  Sunday, January 28,2007By SALLY GOLDENBERG STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE WASHINGTON -- With a mixture of exuberance from last November's Democratic sweep and ire over President Bush's State of the Union address last week, tens of thousands of anti-war protesters from across the country packed the National Mall yesterday to demand an end to the United States military presence in Iraq and a speedy withdrawal of the 132,000 American troops. 
From senior citizens -- a few in wheelchairs -- to young
children, demonstrators spilled onto the grassy area, waving
signs that read "Bush: Send 20,000 Diplomats" and
"Separate Oil and State," and chanting "Not
one more death! Not one more dollar!" At least 65 Staten Islanders who have periodically hosted modest rallies in the borough traveled to the capital yesterday to participate in the spirited demonstration, which had an energy that reverberated throughout the city, replete with dancing, drumming and a host of people, including actress Jane Fonda, who had taken part in similar protests during the Vietnam War. 
"It's about a real crisis of human life. War is the most horrible thing that humanity can experience," said New Brighton resident Bill Johnsen, who served in Vietnam and yesterday returned to the same grounds on which he camped for four days in April of 1971 to protest a war he believed was equally unjust. Johnsen rallied the Island crowd during the two-hour-long demonstration and subsequent march around streets surrounding Capitol Hill by demanding support from Rep. Vito Fossella (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn.) 
Fossella, who voted to authorize the war in 2002, has
recently inched away from that position, but has not come
out against Bush's push to send another 21,500 troops
to Iraq to quell the sectarian violence that has consumed
the country. Silver Lake resident Barbara Walker, a 73-year-old member of the New York Granny Peace Brigade, said she attended the march yesterday "to make it very clear, loud and clear, and it's not just against the surge. We should end the occupation. We must leave Iraq." Ms. Walker, a retired United Nations employee who worked for 15 years in Ethiopia administering scholarships and fellowships, said America should turn to the U.N., NATO, the European Union or another international organization to assume responsibility for rebuilding the country that is descending among its own warring factions. 
A week after she and other anti-war grandmothers lobbied
senators to end the war and use their power to block funding
for any troop increase, Ms. Walker acknowledged the march
likely will not pressure the administration to pull troops
out of Iraq, but said the volume of the crowd is proof of
the war's unpopularity. Chief among her reasons for condemning the war is the number of American casualties, which exceeded 3,000 earlier this month. She also believes, as do many of the yesterday's protesters, that the premise for the war is illegitimate because ties were never discovered between Iraq and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, nor were weapons of mass destruction ever found in Iraq. 
While Ms. Walker discussed the war, other Islanders gathered near a demonstrator
on stilts, sporting red, white and blue apparel, to voice their own opposition.
"Some people confuse supporting this war with supporting our troops," said New Brighton resident Jim Clarke, who developed angst for the practice of war after being drafted to serve for 13 months in Thailand during the Vietnam War. "Thirteen months of living with these guys, that's what you're taught -- to kill or be killed. I would believe that as an absolute last resort, you pick up a weapon," Clarke said. "What has our might done? It has made us enemies of half the world. We have destroyed a country. We have our soldiers dying." He also expressed concern that the troops who return to America are mentally and emotionally scarred. "And what have we accomplished?" he asked. Toward the middle of the march, the protesters encountered a group of about 40 pro-war demonstrators, who waved American flags and chastised the marchers for neglecting U.S. troops. "If we're not supporting our mission, we're not supporting them," said New Jersey resident Joyce Fischer. She contended that the sectarian fighting in Iraq is fueled by Iran- and Syria-funded terrorists, rather than warring factions of the country, and insisted that an American withdrawal would encourage further anti-Western terrorism. And in the absence of Saddam Hussein's regime, Ms. Fischer said, "Women can vote now in Iraq. Hospitals and schools are being reopened. Businesses are being reopened." A few feet away, several senior citizens who spent years demonstrating against the Vietnam War floated signs voicing their anger over the situation in Iraq. "It's three years into the war and we're here with passion and determination," said 84-year-old Ruth Balter from Philadelphia, who wore a shirt that read, "We will not be silent." Ms. Balter spoke enthusiastically about the turnout yesterday, but emphasized that more teen-agers were vocal against the Vietnam War. Johnsen, the New Brighton resident who protested against Vietnam when he returned from battle there, also pointed out the contrast. "It was much more passionate back in the late '60s and early '70s," he said. "You have to remember that many of us young men were being drafted. The passions and the emotions were greater back then." But as Johnsen spoke, his words were drowned out by the overwhelming noise from zealous screams. Two young men a few blocks away led one crowd in chanting, "Ain't no power like the power of the people 'cause the power of the people don't stop!" Sally Goldenberg is a staff writer for the Advance and may be reached at goldenberg@siadvance.com. | ||||||||||||||
| home • act now • speakers • PASI IN ACTION • flyers • links • messages • why • process • join • contact | ||||||||||||||