What Do We Want? Peace !

"A raucous and colorful multitude of protesters, led by some of the aging
activists of the past.." is how the Washington Post described the January
27th rally and march to end the war in Iraq.

The Post went on to quote a number of people who seemed neither
raucous nor very colorful, Vietnam and Iraq War veterans, enlisted
men and women, students, and a soldier's wife who said she was sick
of all the deaths, of attending funerals.

This aging activist, never a leader, was not there. I was recovering from a
severe sinus infection, downcast because I could not go. I was there last time
when about 100,000 of us marched and called out, "No more! Stop Now!
Support our troops- bring them home!" and helped, I believe, influence the
elections that ousted some of the war's supporters.

The Post, the New York Times, and other media played the numbers game.
The phrase most used was "Tens of thousands", march organizers claimed
many more. No matter. Each person there represented many more who did
not get to DC. The tide has turned. The majority are now against the war.
Yet it goes on.

Democrats elected because of the groundswell of opinion against the war
have formulated a timid resolution with no teeth that amounts to a finger
shaking and clucks of "naughty, naughty, mustn't do." They need to be
reminded that they will be up for election again and that voters have a
long memory.

And we may not be "raucous and colorful", but neither will we be silent.
International Answer, one of the organizers of the January 27 march and
rally, responded to President Bush's speech about sending more troops to
Iraq: "Unwilling to accept the failure of his war of aggression in Iraq, his 'war
of choice', Bush announced tonight a plan that will succeed only in sending
thousands of Iraqis and U.S. soldiers to their graves in the next year."
The tower of empty shoes at the January rally was a powerful reminder of
the death and destruction wrought in this senseless war.

There will be a Global Day of Action on March 17th, a March on the
Pentagon, followed by local actions on March 19th and 20th, the fourth
anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.

The war in Iraq has now cost almost $363 billion.
See what it has cost you and your community.