Saturday, Sept 15, Washington DC was filled with an outpouring of resistance to the Iraq war. Tens of thousands of people came to express what millions more people feel: complete and utter frustration that the Bush regime continues to shed the blood of the people of Iraq (with estimates now putting the death toll over one million), as well as its own soldiers, and Congress refuses to do anything to stop it.
[Below: 73 pictures from the protest]
The spirit and desire of the crowd to go beyond “protest
as usual” said much about the potential for resistance to really break
out in a whole different way. The crowd Saturday was remarkably
youthful, with a higher percentage of college and high school students
than at previous anti-war rallies. And Iraq Veterans Against the War
organized quite a visible presence of veterans, showing the complete
contempt for the war among many of those who have fought in it.
What
really marked this day was when thousands of people decided to march to
the Capitol (you know, the building where Congress pretends like it’s
going to do something to stop the war and then lets the Bush regime
keep it going, over and over and over again). The thousands of people
there performed a “die-in” to represent the death toll from this unjust
war right on the Capitol steps. The Iraq Veterans Against the War led
187 people to jump over police barricades where they were arrested and
held overnight. (video below)
Orange “Drive Out the Bush
Regime” bandanas were well-received by a crowd enthusiastic to show the
resistance in the most bold and creative ways possible.
This protest was also taken seriously be organized reactionaries, who held a counter-protest of about one thousand. These pro-war protesters threatened anti-war protesters with physical violence. This is yet another indication of the stakes for the future if this war is not stopped.
If
nothing else – the protest in DC Sept. 15th, and especially the die-in,
civil disobedience at the Capitol, and the presence of so many students
yearning to find a way to stop this war – shows the potential for a
movement of massive resistance to begin breaking out across the country
that doesn’t stop until the Bush regime is driven from power. There
are clearly many people ready for this now, and many more who would
join it if they saw it emerge.
If you live in or near NYC – BUSH
WILL BE SPEAKING AT THE UN SEPT. 25TH! What are YOU going to do that
day, and what will you do between now and then to make the biggest and
most defiant outpouring of resistance possible?
[Below: video of die-in and civil disobedience at Capitol steps]