As part of the national days of action against a new war in Iraq called by the ANSWER Coalition, protesters rallied in front of the White House on June 21 to show their opposition to U.S. intervention.
Holding signs that “Millions killed and maimed, a nation destroyed… NO New War on Iraq,” demonstrators chanted and listened to speeches by anti-war leaders denouncing the latest actions of U.S. imperialism. The rally was held just two days after President Obama announced the deployment of up to 300 so-called advisors to the country.
But attendees at the demonstration were not fooled. Gerry Condon, Vice-President of Veterans for Peace, told Liberation that “Advisors are just the first step for laying the groundwork for further bombardment and further involvement in this war.”
Condon went on to elaborate about the widespread opposition to a new war among veterans, “Veterans are just tired of being lied to… there must be tens of thousands of Iraq veterans across the country this week saying: ‘What the heck did we fight for?’ ‘What did we give our lives for?’ ‘How many lives did we take, and for what?’”
Others who had not previously been a part of anti-war activism but were outraged at recent developments also joined the rally. Jacob, who was visiting D.C. from California, “was just walking around and decided to come over” because he “didn’t think there needs to be another war, there’s already so much war.”
Finally, the demonstration not only demanded a stop to the current attack but justice for the Iraqi people after decades of U.S. imperialist aggression. Partnership for Civil Justice Fund Executive Director Mara Verheyden-Hilliard said as the crowd cheered: “George Bush and Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld and Condoleezza Rice and every single one of those war mongers that went into Iraq to bomb its people and shred the country should be arrested. They should be prosecuted for crimes against humanity!”
