Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, Pages 63-64

Waging Peace

Mass Arrests at White House Antiwar Rally

Breaking the Chains at the White House fence, North Lawn. (Photo W. Hughes)

Just after noon and under a warm sun on Oct. 5, 2009, 61 activists were arrested at the White House for failing to obey a police order to move off the sidewalk. The nonviolent “civil resistance” protest was the largest such antiwar demonstration at this particular site since President Barack Obama took office in January 2009.

Hundreds more activists participated in the spirited event, but chose not to get arrested. Some of those detained by the police wore orange jumpsuits and black hoods. A few had even chained themselves to the White House fence on the North Lawn. Included in that gutsy group was “Peace Mom” Cindy Sheehan, one of the most visible and passionate opponents of the Iraq war. Her son, Casey, aged 24, a U.S. Army specialist assigned to the 1st Calvary Division, was killed in Baghdad on April 4, 2004. Sheehan has indicated that she will soon move from her home state of California to Washington, DC to spend more of her time creating a strong grass roots movement to bring about real change in the U.S.

According to the press release from the sponsoring groups, the demonstration was carried out in order “to focus attention” on ending the U.S. war in Afghanistan and the U.S. occupation of Iraq; stopping the U.S. drone bombings in Pakistan; and closing, as a moral and legal issue, the Guantanamo Bay and Bagram prisons. The activists also want the culpable members of the “Bush-Cheney Gang” brought to the bar of justice for their role in sanctioning and carrying out the illegal policy of torture.

Prior to the mass arrests, this reporter spoke with various peace activists at the scene who shared their views on the need to continue opposing the current wars even though there is a new, and Democratic, administration in town. Sarah Sloan, national staff coordinator of the Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER) Coalition, said, “The Pentagon and the Obama administration are talking not about bringing the troops home, but about escalating the wars...We’re here to say ”˜no’ to that; ”˜no’ more troops—and to bring all the troops home, immediately.”

“Peace Mom” Cindy Sheehan was arrested for refusing to move off the sidewalk. (Photo W. Hughes)

The ANSWER Coalition, one of the nation’s largest advocacy antiwar groups, is gearing up in the weeks to come for protest actions around the country. They will also be preparing to stage yet another massive antiwar rally on Saturday, March 20, 2010. This one, to be held here in the U.S. capital, will be called “A National March on Washington,” according to Sloan.

David Swanson, an author/activist who runs the popular web site AfterDowningStreet.org, said: “You end these wars, like a majority of the population wants, and you’ll have more than enough money to give us single-payer healthcare, with money left over.” Swanson, whose new book, Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union, is a scathing attack on the Bush-Cheney administration, was one of the 61 activists arrested at this rally.

One of the most creative peace-and-justice organizations is CodePink, whose co-founder, Medea Benjamin, had just returned from a visit to Afghanistan. Labeling it “a quagmire,” Benjamin continued: “The thought that this White House might be calling for 40,000 more troops [in Afghanistan] is absolutely heart breaking...That will just increase the endless cycle of violence...We’re here to say that we in this country have different priorities. We want our money going to health care, to education and to fixing our nation’s infrastructures.”

Mike Ferner, president of Veterans for Peace, a national antiwar organization, underscored the point: “We are urging the president not to send in [to Afghanistan] any more of our troops. And we’re urging Congress to cut off the money for war and to put it into healthcare,for example, and other things that we need.”

Activist Kevin Zeese of VotersforPeace.org stood in front of the White House holding a poster showing four Iraqi women mourning the dead victims of that war. He probably best summed up how most of the protesters at this rally were feeling when he said, “We’re here to ”˜wake-up’ the antiwar movement. The Afghan war is about to escalate and we want to stop it. So, this is the beginning of the ”˜new’ antiwar movement, saying ”˜no to [President Barack] Obama.’ A bomb from Obama is just as bad as a bomb from [George W.] Bush! And we’re just trying to make that clear.”

To view four videos on YouTube of the antiwar rally taken by this writer, go to: <www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l9PEDaSyqU>; <www.youtube.com/profile?user=liamh2#play/uploads/4/V2NA1t3esZE>; <www.youtube.com/profile?user=liamh2#play/uploads/3/WObDnwkqq5g>; and <www.youtube.com/profile?user=liamh2#play/uploads/1/uXWpjay6Hkg>.

—William Hughes

SIDEBAR

(Staff photo D. Hanley)

Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery—or sabotage—but when it comes to the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs magazine and potential readers, it could be very costly. At a recent conference we made hundreds of copies of our magazine available to attendees in hopes of attracting subscribers. To our surprise, we noticed deceptive business cards touting a publication with a name similar to ours, but with completely different contact information, scattered around copies of the Washington Report. After an Internet search we discovered a new name (suspiciously similar to our own) for an old blog with a decidedly different viewpoint. Readers beware.