War Protesters Halt Traffic, Recall Dead

Scores Jailed In Protests Nationwide As U.S. Marks 5th Anniversary Of Iraq War

(CBS/AP)  Protesters blocked traffic and government buildings in Washington, acted out a Baghdad street scene in Syracuse, N.Y., and banged drums in a parade through San Francisco on Wednesday to mark the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

In other, more somber observances, organizers set up a 2-mile display of about 4,000 T-shirts in Cincinnati, meant to symbolize the members of the U.S. military killed in Iraq, while in Louisville, Ky., demonstrators lined rows of military boots, sandals and children's tennis shoes on the steps of a courthouse.

Laurie Wolberton of Louisville, Ky., whose son just finished an Army tour of duty in Iraq, said she fears the worsening U.S. economy has caused Americans to forget about the war.

"We're not paying attention anymore," she said. "My son has buried his friends. He's given eulogies, he's had to go through things no one should have to go through, and over here they've forgotten. They just go shopping instead."

On previous anniversaries, tens of thousands of people marched through major U.S. cities, and more than 100,000 gathered on several occasions leading up to the invasion.

Only a few hundred mustered for one of Wednesday's largest gatherings, in Washington, the crowds' size perhaps kept in check by a late-winter storm system that stretched the length of the country.

More than 80 people were arrested, most of them outside in Washington and at the Syracuse demonstration.

At the Internal Revenue Service building in the nation's capital, about 100 protesters led by a marching band gathered at the main entrance. Several jumped barricades and sat down in front of the doors and were immediately detained. The demonstrators said they were focusing on the IRS, among other institutions, because it gathers taxes used to fund the war.

Brian Bickett, 29, was among the first arrested. The high school theater teacher from New York City said he had never engaged in civil disobedience before.

"We need to find lots of different ways to resist the war, and I decided to try this," he said.

About 20 protesters were arrested about a block from the U.S. Capitol after blocking traffic. In some cases, police had to drag the protesters off the street.

In Syracuse, police arrested 20 protesters who blocked traffic by creating a mock Baghdad street scene. One person dressed in camouflage lay on the ground. Another was covered in a white sheet with red markings and a woman leaned over as if grieving. They were from a group of more than 100 demonstrators who marched downtown in a steady rain over the lunch hour.

In Chicopee, Mass., eight people were arrested when they blocked a gate at Westover Air Reserve Base, police said. Five people were arrested In Hartford, Conn., for blocking the front door of a federal courthouse.

On the West Coast, San Francisco police arrested about 100 protesters by early afternoon for blocking traffic and chaining themselves to buildings, police said.

The rallies, which drew hundreds to the city's busy financial district, were mostly peaceful, though some demonstrators threw glass Christmas ornaments filled with paint at police, said Sgt. Steve Mannina, a San Francisco police spokesman.

Black balloons were tied to trees along San Francisco's main downtown thoroughfare, and protesters at a table offered coffee, oranges and "unhappy birthday cake" to passers-by.

A few hundred protesters banging drums and waving banners that read "Was it worth it" took to the streets for a parade that blocked morning traffic.

In Anchorage, Alaska, vandals dumped a gallon of red paint on a war veterans memorial, police spokesman Lt. Paul Honeman said.

Demonstrators also converged in Ohio, where more than 20 vigils, rallies, marches and other events were planned.

In New York City, women sang songs and counted out the war dead outside the military recruiting station in Times Square, which was recently the target of a bomb.

Half a dozen war protesters in Miami dressed in black placed flowers outside the U.S. Southern Command during rush-hour Wednesday morning.

Outside a military recruitment office in Washington, protesters were met by a handful of counterdemonstrators, one of several shows of support for the war and the troops.

Colby Dillard, who held a sign reading, "We support our brave military and their just mission," pointed to some red paint that one of the war protesters had splattered on the sidewalk.

"The same blood was spilled to give you the right to do what you're doing," said Dillard, who said he served in Iraq in 2003.

Earlier, about 150 people, mostly with the group Veterans for Peace, marched down Independence Avenue. Many of them carried upside-down American flags, which they said symbolized a nation in distress.

Daniel Black, who was stationed in Fallujah with the Marines in 2004, said he came to believe the war was a mistake after he returned.

"The more I read the more it just didn't add up," said the 25-year-old, a student at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

A couple of miles away at the American Petroleum Institute, protesters chanted "No blood for oil!" and tried to block traffic by sitting in the street and linking arms. At least once, they were dragged away by police.

Vandals in Milwaukee damaged the front door of an Army recruiting center and spray-painted anti-war graffiti across its front windows. Milwaukee police said the vandalism occurred Monday night or Tuesday.

The Iraq war has been unpopular both abroad and in the United States. On Tuesday a new CBS News poll showed that Americans continue to think the results of the war have not been worth the loss of American lives and the other costs of attacking Iraq.

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Read more details about the poll.

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The findings, a rarity in the unpopular war, came amid diminishing U.S. and Iraqi casualties and the start of modest troop withdrawals. Still, majorities remain upset about the conflict and convinced the invasion was a mistake, and the issue still splits the country deeply along party lines.

Activists cite frustration that the war has dragged on for so long and hope the more dramatic actions will galvanize others to protest.

[michellem99-2009]

It is over oil ..They be lied to by Bush and company..The ladies and gents come home learn the truth..Bush jacked the price of oil sky high..Yes..I and ye have family there. I have met vets as I live in Seattle. They do their duty. Come home all messed up, blind,deaf,missing body parts.. Yet they are to go back in life to learn a new way..Is war worth it .. no when that asre lied just to start a war.

[michellem99-2009]

Vets I do not aim this at ye and yers. I have met a blind vet and it pissed me he was robbed of it. A Nam vet. I have always been and am legally blind. I am sorry but how the hell do ye adjust to a life as a blind in a sighted world know ye as a vet was made blind. Blind men are hated or treated worte than a blind lady. I know that life. I DON''T WISH IT ON ANY ONE. That man blinded and armless over bloody oil. Dear God Allmighty.

[petrockss]

I agree with many of you - this is a war that should''nt have happened, but it did. That means th folks who have signed up to be part of the military then have a job to do. How many wounded troops have you seen interview who want nothing better than to go back just to be there to support they''re fellow troops. It''s a mentality that you can''t understand unless you are involved in it...and I hope there will soon be a resolution to it so no one else has to loose a loved one or tend to someone who is a blind double amputee (true story) who not only can''t see his newborn child but can''t hold her either. I guess I just want people to know the world is many shades of grey - not just black and white. Each and everyone of us is respoonsbile.

[petrockss]

I am being honest.

[michellem99-2009]

I hate war. However I do thank our Vets and they are thanked. I will not join the bloody protesters. They have a right to their say but they are wrong to stop traiffic or block access. I am 53. I can not serve nor wish to as that is not for me as a legally blind person. I don''t know any thing about the 60s . Sure I am against war and I am a daughter of a Vet. I was raised in foster homes. It is over oil that war is.

[r9119111]

mudrose:

Be Honest.

[petrockss]

How did we come to this? I''m a massage therapist married to a soldier. I consider myself to be more of a healer, more liberal in many ways. I hate to see what''s going on in this world...but to blame the troops who would so willing put there lives on the line for your freedom. Don''t you think every mother, father, wife, son, daughter etc., lives in fear that their loved one will be the next to be called...and to know they are willing to do it so we can lead a better life. Blame the leaders, maybe, but the troops? Maybe I am the niave one.

[jkhagemann]

ITS TIME FOR AMERICANS TO TAKE UP ARMS AGAIN, AND TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK.
Posted by forthepeopl1 at 10:54 AM : Mar 20, 2008


Forthepeople11: I would imagine the 11 in your profile name is age.

We all have the right to vote. Did you vote Bush into the office? You can make your voice heard by voting. Your thought of taking up arms against your own nation is wrong... childish actually!

I''m sorry to hear you are poor. But this may be your own fault, poor and rich have been around since man set his foot on this earth. Your problem being poor is your own. Each individual must adapt to the present circumstane (economy), looks like you were watching television reality shows and missed the boat!

[forthepeopl1]

ITS TIME FOR AMERICANS TO TAKE UP ARMS AGAIN, AND TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK.

ITS OUR RIGHT UNDER THE CONSTITUTION..IT STATES THAT IF OUR GOVERNEMNT IS NOT FOLLOWING WHAT THE MAJORITY OF AMERICANS WANT, THAN ITS UP TO AMERICANS TO CHANGE THAT, AND START OVER WITH A NEW GOVERNEMNT FOR THE PEOLPE BY THE PEOLPE..

SO ARE WE READY YET TO TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK..THEY CANT KILL US ALL IF WE THE PEOPLE OF WHAT 27500000 MILLION STAND UP AND MARCH DOWN TO WASHINTON THE OTHER 2500000 ARE THE ONES THAT ARE MAKEING BILLIONS ON US POOR..THATS THE ONE PERCENT THAT IS RUNNING AMERICANS AND AMERICA BROKE..

READY YET..LETS GO

[gopack443]

mudrose, Don''t forget buch and cheney did all they could to stay out of vietnam to.

[gopack443]

As cheney said, SO! The will of the American people just don''t matter the dictator will do as he pleases!

[jersupporter]

Typical Libs with their all talk and no action - complaining and whining. I still laugh hard when I see such a poor turnout for something they all claim to believe in. But yet, they do not have the real support. Bunch of flag waivers with yellow ribbons on their cars. But no real action. Truth is in the pudding Libs. Deal with the fact that together you could not clean a mile of road because all you do is Jibber Jabber. Deeds Not Words.

[mudrose-2009]

More phoey from the drugged sperm of the 60s generation. They ran off to Canada because they were chickens - ya know those chickens that came home to roost. They went to universities and make love, peace, and disease. Now the next generation, their children offspring of a bunch of chickens that didn''t like GIs then and now stand up and accuse Bush and Cheney of war crimes, but give Osama a pass. Drugged sperm of the 60s hippies. I''m so impressed. They long for peace at the expense of freedom. They long for defeat. Just like their RamaLamaObama. Defeat is crucial for Americas survival. George Soros wants RamaLamaObama as president so he can wittle America away into socialism. A bunch of Anit-American drugged up sperm of their 60s parents. I''m not impressed.

[r9119111]

If all of those who support this war joined the fight, we wouldn''''''''t have any recruiting problems. Would we?

Posted by r9119111

It is impossible for Democrats to understand what "support the war" means. Not one American Soldier or Marine would turn down the opportunity to be home with family instead of fighting a war. But, The Boots on the Ground want to finish the job they were sent to do, and then come home. Soldiers who have lost arms, legs, eyes etc feel horrible about it but, even they say, they don''''t want their sacrifice to be for nothing. They want to win the war. This is the difference. Democrats want the war to be for nothing. Democrats support the troops as long as the troops understand how stupid they were for "Sacrificing for their Country".

Posted by demslie at 08:18 AM : Mar 20, 2008

The war just should not have happened. Our brave men and women are most honerable. We all thank them. They have done well. God bless our heroic soldiers.

There was never an exit strategy because the perpetrators of this war never intended to leave. Their own personal agendas trumped our Constitution and the will of the Amerian people. Be honest.

[jwind11]

(LOL!)... just kidding MCVet. I too wish you the best for your treatments. Just as long as those treatments don''''''''''''''''t change your perspectives on these boards. Eventhough I might not always agree with them, they''''''''''''''''re still insightful and somewhat humorous.

:-)

Posted by NAUcoming4U at 09:02 AM : Mar 20, 2008



Thanks jwind11 for trying to help MCVet by creating those posts. MCVet needs PTSD treatments,
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Posted by hungry1968 at 09:09 AM : Mar 20, 2008

your welcome.....wish mcvet luck with his treatments


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Posted by jwind11 at 09:14 AM : Mar 20, 2008

[jwind11]

This my friends is what I have been waiting for!! finally some progress!! oh and by the way, I start PTSD treatments today!! wish me luck everyone...peace be with you all.

Posted by MCVet at 06:41 AM : Mar 20, 2008

Good luck McVet


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Posted by jwind11 at 07:59 AM : Mar 20, 2008
+ report abuse

Thanks jwind11..thanks for staying on me and convincing me to get help....i owe you big time....my family thanks you to. you are very wise indeed!!

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Posted by MCVet at 08:06 AM : Mar 20, 2008

just want you better...hang in there



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Posted by jwind11 at 08:58 AM : Mar 20, 2008

[luvny-2009]

demslie, you still babbling? Aren''''t you missing a NASCAR race? I think James Dobson is waving the Starter''''s Flag! Quick! Go find it! I think its on Fox!


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Posted by FloydZepp



That made me laugh out loud!

[truthword08]

This site says it all about Obama (as if there actually needs to be anymore red flags raised about him!):

www.muslimsforobama.com

Duuuuuh people.

Do the math.

[truthword08]

Hello ''''demslie'''' - yes I have noticed how the protesting liberal anti-war Democrats sound just like the terrorists. That is why the terrorists are hoping that a Democrat (especially Obama) win the White House. The terrorists know that if Obama or Hillary get in office that the USA will surrender the war on terror and then Al Queda will be free to plan evil attacks against us. Obama got all angry when a Republican said the terrorists will be ''''dancing in the streets'''' if he wins - but if you notice Obama never said the Republican was wrong! He just whined that the Republican was being mean. Nevermind that the Republican was telling the truth!


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Posted by bobmarisol

-BUMP.

I agree wholeheartedly sir.

[demslie]

I notice the War Protesters and Democrats have never mentioned how their friends the IRANIAN and Al Qaeda Terrorists treat American Soldiers. Yes Bush is quilty of war crimes. Yet, when the terrorist friends of Democrats captured American Soldiers, they tortured them endlessly, cut off their genitals, chopped off their arms, legs and heads and spread the parts all over town to keep the populations in terror. Not one Democrat alive has ever denounced these actions by their Partners.