U.S. groups mount grass-roots battle over Iraq

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070311/ts_nm/iraq_usa_protests_dc;_ylt=ArP18wDxJgnQaJ9P6rbepmCs0NUE

U.S. groups mount grass-roots battle over Iraq

By Carey Gillam Sun Mar 11, 9:54 AM ET

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - Tomas Young was 22 years old and working as a waiter for a Kansas City-area eatery in 2001 when attacks on the World Trade Center spurred him to a patriotic act.

"I wanted to go to Afghanistan to exact some retribution on the people who attacked us," said Young, who joined the Army days after the September 11 attacks.

Today, the 27-year-old is paralyzed from the chest down because of a bullet he took in
Iraq, not Afghanistan. He spends his days trying to convince others not to enlist -- part of a growing movement of Iraq war veterans, military family members and others determined to stop a war they see as ill-advised and possibly illegal.

As Congress and the Bush administration wrangle over how and when to bring an end to the U.S. war in Iraq, war supporters are also active. They describe opponents as "leftist propagandists" hurting military morale and undermining the U.S. mission.

Both sides are writing letters, lobbying Congress and holding rallies. On the March 17-18 weekend they will march on Washington to mark the fourth anniversary of the invasion.

The anti-war movement has yet to reach the scale of the Vietnam War protests of the 1960s and 1970s. Most fledgling Iraq war activists say they are speaking out because the war is affecting so many soldiers' family members and friends.

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