Thousands march to Pentagon to protest Iraq war (warning pic heavy)

[maddezmom]

Demonstrators opposed to the Iraq war march across the Memorial Bridge in Washington Saturday, March 17, 2006 during an anit-war protest to mark the fourth anniversary of the beginning of the war. The Lincoln Memorial is in the background. (AP Photo/J. David Ake)


Demonstrators march over the Arlington Memorial Bridge from the National Mall to the Pentagon in Washington, Saturday, March 17, 2007 during a protest opposing the war in Iraq. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)


Demonstrators who support the war, heckle anti-war marchers as they walk from the National Mall to the Pentagon for a rally in Washington, Saturday, March 17, 2007. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)



Supporters of the war in Iraq gather near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, as anti-war protestors gather nearby to mark the fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq, Saturday, March 17, 2007 in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)


Demonstrators hold up signs and effigies during an antiwar march from the National Mall to the Pentagon in Washington, Saturday, March 17, 2007. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)


Thousands march to Pentagon to protest Iraq war

WASHINGTON, March 17 (Reuters) - Thousands of anti-war demonstrators, some carrying yellow and black signs reading "U.S. out of Iraq now!" marched toward 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 toward 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.

more:http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N17256712.htm


pix from other places:


A young protester with a painted face demonstrates in central Athens during an anti-war rally, Saturday, March 17, 2007, marking the fourth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. About 1,000 people marched peacefully through central Athens to the U.S. embassy on Saturday demanding to stop the war in Iraq. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)


People march to protest the war in Iraq in the Kadikoy district of Istanbul. Demonstrations against the war also took place in several European cities, with turnout ranging from some 6,000 in Istanbul to several hundred in Copenhagen, Prague, Athens and Salonika in Greece.(AFP/Sezayi Erken)


People hold placards and wave peace flags during an anti-war demonstration in Madrid Saturday March 17, 2007 marking the fourth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

A demonstrator shouts slogans during an anti-war rally demanding the withdrawal of U.S. troops in Iraq in front of the U.S Embassy in Santiago, Saturday, March, 17, 2007. (AP Photo/Santiago Llanquin)


Anti-war protesters arrested9..late Friday
WASHINGTON, March 17 (UPI) -- The late-night start of a rally against the U.S. war in Iraq resulted in dozens of protesters being arrested by police outside the White House.

The demonstrators handcuffed about 11:30 p.m. Friday were among about 100 people who appeared on the sidewalk to pray in a planned act of civil disobedience, The Washington Post said Saturday.


The group was part of a crowd of about 3,000 that had gathered at the Washington National Cathedral for a service marking the fourth anniversary of the war and timed to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the 1967 march on the Pentagon against the Vietnam War.


Protest leaders hoped tens of thousands of people would show up for a march Saturday afternoon that was to take demonstrators from the Lincoln Memorial, across the Arlington Memorial Bridge, to a Pentagon parking lot. However, inclement weather was a possible factor.

more:
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/20070317-115354-3959r/

[NightWatcher]

1. CSPAN is showing some of the speeches..now

[Vexatious Ape]

2. Thanks for the heads up.

[lyonn]

6. Thanks

[niyad]

3. if that top picture is all supporters of the war--why aren't their asses over THERE, instead of safe

at home? bunch of keyboard cowards.

[maddezmom]

13. sorry, I added more pics to the top

but I have a feeling they are part of this group


Demonstrators who support the war, heckle anti-war marchers as they walk from the National Mall to the Pentagon for a rally in Washington, Saturday, March 17, 2007. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

[Joanne98]

20. I saw them on c-span. They are always acting tough...

It makes me fell like kicking their faces in. I hate bullies.

[northofdenali]

25. These dudes would not get away with wearing biker gear

without the bikes to prove it up here. Pro-and-anti war bikers alike work together for many things here, including veterans and those killed and wounded in Shrub's invasions. Check out the Patriot Guard....... Freeper wannabe's wouldn't last long among either group, because unlike most of us, they are NOT veterans and have never served.

[rodeodance]

4. thanks

[niyad]

5. by the way, how do we know that first picture is of the pro-war group? there isn't a single sign

visible in that pic that shows that.

[EFerrari]

9. Somebody believes freeps own our flag?

:shrug:

[maddezmom]

14. here's a link...was it ever proven about the spray painting

I seem to recall a lot of chatter this was put out by the WH? But don't remember specifics.

Vets' mission: Protect memorial

By Adam Leech
[e-mail]

To protect and serve. It was their mission then, and it's their mission now.

A group calling itself the Gathering of Eagles will hold a counter-protest to the "March on the Pentagon" -- an anti-war demonstration scheduled for Saturday in Washington, D.C. The Eagles, composed largely of military veterans, will gather at the Vietnam War Memorial, saying they want to ensure it is not defaced by the anti-war group.

On Jan. 28, a group of 60 anti-war protesters spray-painted anti-war slogans on the steps of the Capitol building, according to organizers of the gathering -- citing an article from The Hill, a Washington newspaper. When veterans heard Saturday's "March on the Pentagon" would include a rally in front of the Vietnam memorial, they organized to counter-protest.

"We're going down there to make sure that doesn't happen again," said Byron Scott of Eliot, Maine, an Army veteran who is heading down to Washington with 15 other Eagles from New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts.

more:http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/03152007/nhnews-ph-ex-healy.html

[Vincardog]

21. I was there. No one spray-painted anti-war slogans on anything but poster board.

Never b elieve the Reich Wing Nutz lies

[maddezmom]

30. thanks for correcting the record

:hi:

[cal04]

7. Worldwide protests mark Iraq war

A series of anti-war demonstrations are under way, with protests scheduled in countries including the United States, Canada, Australia and Britain ahead of the fourth anniversary of the US-led war in Iraq.

Thousands of people are expected to converge on the centre of the US capital on Saturday and march on the Pentagon, organisers said.

The protests are timed to coincide with the fourth anniversary on Tuesday of the Iraq war, which has claimed at least 70,000 civilian lives and nearly 10,000 lives of soldiers and police officers from Iraq, the US and eight coalition countries.

The US military said on Friday it was sending some 2,600 soldiers to Iraq earlier than planned, raising the number of extra US troops being deployed, in a new effort to stabilise the country, to nearly 30,000.


Christian activists took part in an anti-war procession late on Friday in Washington DC


Demonstrators held a huge protest rally in central Nicosia in Cyprus on Saturday
http://mwcnews.net/content/view/13285&Itemid=1


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/

[EFerrari]

8. Fantastic! K&R

[TheConstantGardener]

10. "Go to Hell Traitors"

You see that "counterprotest" sign?


Why doesn't he go to Iraq -- Hell -- ?

[bobthedrummer]

11. .

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x269378

[midnight]

12. Thanks to those who make this happen and thanks to you who

show it happening. Bring them Home.

[rodeodance]

15. AFP Tens of thousands denounce Iraq war at Washington rally

Tens of thousands denounce Iraq war at Washington rally by Nadia Teskrat
50 minutes ago



WASHINGTON (AFP) - Tens of thousands of protesters marched in Washington against the Iraq war Saturday, taking their message on placards, "US out of Iraq now," to the Pentagon's doorstep ahead of the fourth anniversary of the US invasion.

ADVERTISEMENT

Demonstrators from across the United States gathered in a cold winter day to descend on the US Defense Department offices and decry the conflict that has killed more than 3,200 US soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians.

As war opponents trickled into downtown Washington for the rally, organized by the peace group Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER), Vietnam war veterans wearing black leather jackets and their families gathered nearby for a counter-demonstration.

Some war supporters confronted the peace activists, tearing up and spitting on anti-war signs while chanting: "USA! USA!"

Washington police do not give crowd estimates, but an AFP correspondent said tens of thousands of people could be seen at the march.

[fooj]

16. Shrub's BASE?

The demonstrators handcuffed about 11:30 p.m. Friday were among about 100 people who appeared on the sidewalk to pray in a planned act of civil disobedience, The Washington Post said Saturday.


The group was part of a crowd of about 3,000 that had gathered at the Washington National Cathedral for a service marking the fourth anniversary of the war and timed to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the 1967 march on the Pentagon against the Vietnam War.

<snip>

Not any more!!! I can't believe they arrested people who were STANDING on the sidewalk PRAYING. Unbelievable.

[rcdean]

17. The first 3 pics are all ANTI-war.

If you blow up the 1st one you can see dove signs, "Impeach" signs and "No War" signs.

The only pro-war pic is the one with stragglers near the Vietnam War Memorial.

[electron_blue]

18. What is the breakdown between those for and against the war?

CNN just shows pictures of huge masses and claims it's both sides. I want to know whether it's equally split, or are there many more on one side, as I suspect? Who knows, maybe I'm wrong. Anyone have a reference to an estimate of the breakout of the protests?

[onehandle]

19. I trust there was a Army recruiting booth near the pro-warers.

I trust that the patriots of age all signed up.

[Vinca]

22. Then there's CNN's piece which begins

"Hundreds of anti-war protesters and supporters of the U.S. policy in Iraq are in Washington for rallies, days before the war enters its fifth year." Hundreds?????????????

[Rosa Luxemburg]

27. Who controls CNN?

[HannibalBarca]

23. Impressive

..if you look at the very first picture the opposing protestors have a sign reading "Go to hell traitors, you dishonour our dead, no hallowed ground" - misguided in the extreme, a shame.

[kiwilover]

24. Yahoo's Pics

Yahoo had about every other pic showing war supporters----lot of biker people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This was from Rueters!!!!!!!!!!! Noticed they would give names of people---if against the war then your town was given----if for the war only the State they were from---hope nobody gets hurt from this type of reporting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MethuenProgressive]

26. "GO TO HELL TRAITORS - YOU DISHONOR OUR DEAD...

...ON HALLOWED GROUND"
Is what that white banner in the foreground says.
The anti-anti-war folks were allowed to get pretty close, I see.
You know what the real shame is? It's that some people really think that...

Support our Troops. Impeach your President.
:patriot:

[Straight Shooter]

29. A lot of those people they're calling "traitors" have already been to Hell.

Also known as Vietnam, and Iraq.

World's #1 terrorist never went to Nam, and showed up with a plastic turkey in Iraq.

[texpatriot2004]

28. Excellent nm

[Virginian]

31. However, inclement weather was a possible factor.

The weather has been horrible!

Thursday was beautiful. Warm and Sunny, highs in the 70's but then it turned...

Thursday afternoon, the temps dropped 30 degrees and the rains started.

Friday morning started out with a cold rain. Temperatures never got out of the 30's. During the day, there were periods of heavy rain. That's bone chilling! By late afternoon, the rain was mixed with sleet and then we got a little freezing rain which turned into a wet snow with an accumulation of about two inches. I can not think of worse weather for a protest.

I'm close to Washington's Dulles Airport. The temps did not get high enough to melt the lawn snow today (Saturday). It is better than yesterday, but it is still not an ideal day to get a good turnout for a protest.