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Title: Thousands march to Pentagon to protest Iraq war
Source:
http://www.swissinfo.org
URL Source: http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/intern ... sid=7630795&cKey=1174158488000
Published: Mar 17, 2007
Author: Caren Bohan
Post Date: 2007-03-17 15:28:05 by robin
Keywords: None
Views: 529
Comments: 19
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Thousands of anti-war demonstrators, some carrying yellow and black signs reading "U.S. out of Iraq now!" marched towards the Pentagon on Saturday, one of a number of protests held or planned around the country and the world. The march, on a cold and cloudy St. Patrick's Day, comes just before the fourth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war on Tuesday and 40 years after a similar protest at the Pentagon over the Vietnam Var. The march began near the Vietnam War Memorial, just a few blocks from the White House, and proceeded across the Potomac River towards the Pentagon. One sign near the front read, "The worst tyrants ever: Napoleon, Hitler and Bush." Frustration over the Iraq war cost President George W. Bush's Republicans control of Congress in elections last year and is the main reason his poll numbers are stuck near 30 percent, the lowest of his presidency. Bush also faces other problems, including complaints of poor health care for U.S. veterans, the perjury conviction of a former top aide to U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and an uproar over the firing of U.S. prosecutors that has prompted calls for the ouster of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Bush unveiled a plan in January to send 21,500 additional troops to Iraq, further stoking anger over the war. The number of extra troops being sent has climbed to around 30,000 with the addition of support troops. His plan aims to quell violence in Baghdad and the western province of Anbar. The march marked the latest protest in Washington against the war in which more than 3,200 U.S. troops have died. On January 27, tens of thousands of protesters gathered in front of the U.S. Capitol to pressure the U.S. government to get out of Iraq. Police reported that about two dozen protesters had been arrested late on Friday night in front of the White House. Bush had already left for the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, where he is spending the weekend. Several hundred supporters of the war held their own nearby counter-demonstration and carried signs stating: "Win the war or lose to jihad," "Our troops are shedding their blood to keep terrorists from America," and "St. Patrick: Drive the Democrats from our land." Organisers of the protest march said the turnout had been hurt by a winter snow storm on Friday that moved up the East Coast from Washington into New England, disrupting travel. Police in Los Angeles said they were expecting 5,000-10,000 protesters to turn out for an anti-war rally there, while other demonstrations were planned in Austin, Texas. Protests were also staged or planned in Australia, Britain, and Canada. Democrats in Congress are wrestling with legislation to set deadlines on the U.S. military presence in Iraq. A proposal to be debated soon in the House of Representatives would tie approval of $124 billion in emergency war funds to a troop pullout by September 2008. Warning that a U.S. withdrawal would worsen the violence in Iraq, Bush has labelled such proposals an attempt by lawmakers to "micromanage" the war and has threatened a veto. "The consequences of imposing such an artificial timetable would be disastrous," Bush said in his weekly radio address on Saturday. (Additional reporting by Nicola Groom in Los Angeles) Reuters (IDS)
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#2. To: robin (#0)
"Nearly a dozen rally to support war"
#10. To: Mekons4, robin (#2)
did you see the coverage of the miscreants who were there supposedly supporting the war? looks like they picked up a bunch of cons at the local medium security prson and armed 'em with signs and the promise of an early parole. (and their wimmin ?) Signs printed courtesy CIA.
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