The first major protest against the Iraq War in Washington since January kicked off today with speeches near the White House, to be followed by a "die-in" at the U.S. Capitol featuring the playing of taps and a mock 21-gun salute.Protesters and counter-protesters started to gather by 8:30 a.m. for the event, which is expected to be followed by a week of civil disobedience in the Washington area intended to shift the anti-war movement to a more confrontational phase.
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The demonstrators were immediately confronted by several hundred counter-protesters, who came to the Mall to demand that politicians see the war through to victory. At a large stage on the Mall at 7th Street, speakers said they did not want to abandon the Iraqi people, as they said America had done in ending the Vietnam war, and that they wanted soldiers to be shown respect when they returned from Iraq.
There are a lot of directions to go with that line about the pro-war people not wanting to abandon the Iraqi people, but I'm not going in any of them.
Anti war protesters who approached the fringes of the counterdemonstration on the Mall were quickly chased off. One man in a tie dye t-shirt was surrounded by several screaming counterdemonstrators who called him a traitor.
Okay, well maybe I'll say this: they weren't meaning he was a traitor against the Iraqi people, I'm quite sure.
"[The counter-protest] will be a lot of bull horns, a lot of 'singing God Bless America', " said Betty Kilbride, 48, of Arlington, a writer who described herself as supporting the troops. Deborah King-Lile, 55, of St. Augustine, Fla. said the Gathering of Eagles prided themselves on not being arrested at protests. "We just want a chance to show America we don't agree with the vocal minority."
Minority?
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