[Mb-civic] Antiwar Fervor Fills the Streets - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

Antiwar Fervor Fills the Streets
Demonstration Is Largest in Capital Since U.S. Military Invaded Iraq

By Petula Dvorak
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 25, 2005; Page A01

Tens of thousands of people packed downtown Washington yesterday and 
marched past the White House in the largest show of antiwar sentiment in 
the nation's capital since the conflict in Iraq began.

The demonstration drew grandmothers in wheelchairs and babies in 
strollers, military veterans in fatigues and protest veterans in 
tie-dye. It was the first time in a decade that protest groups had a 
permit to march in front of the executive mansion, and, even though 
President Bush was not there, the setting seemed to electrify the crowd.

Signs, T-shirts, slogans and speeches outlined the cost of the Iraq 
conflict in human as well as economic terms. They memorialized dead U.S. 
troops and Iraqis, and contrasted the price of war with the price of 
recovery for areas battered by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Riffs on 
Vietnam-era protests were plentiful, with messages declaring, "Make 
Levees, Not War," "I never thought I'd miss Nixon" and "Iraq is Arabic 
for Vietnam." Many in the crowd had protested in the 1960s; others 
weren't even born during those tumultuous years.

Protest organizers estimated that 300,000 people participated, triple 
their original target. D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey, who walked 
the march route, said the protesters achieved the goal of 100,000 and 
probably exceeded it. Asked whether at least 150,000 showed up, the 
chief said, "That's as good a guess as any.

"It's their protest, not mine. It was peaceful -- that's all I care 
about," Ramsey said.

The protesters rallied at the Ellipse, then marched through a misty 
drizzle around the White House and along Pennsylvania Avenue NW. The 
crowd thinned as events continued into the evening with a concert on the 
grounds of the Washington Monument that featured Joan Baez and other 
performers, along with antiwar speeches.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/24/AR2005092401701.html?nav=hcmodule
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