[Peace-discuss] Fwd: [ANSWER]: Washington Post coverage of Oct. 25

Sun Oct 26 22:58:05 CST 2003

FYI

Begin forwarded message:

> From: <answer.general at action-mail.org> (A.N.S.W.E.R.)
> Date: Sun Oct 26, 2003  16:29:11 US/Central
> To: <answer.general at action-mail.org>
> Subject: [ANSWER]: Washington Post coverage of Oct. 25
>
> WASHINGTON POST COVERAGE of OCT. 25
> & other media coverage
>
> The October 25 demonstration to End the Occupation of Iraq and Bring 
> the Troops Home Now demonstration was broadcast live and then 
> rebroadcast several times on C-Span, it received major coverage by CNN 
> over an 18 hour period. It was also picked up by hundreds of local 
> newspapers and received widespread international press attention.  The 
> Washington Post carried a photograph of the demonstration on its front 
> page; the accompanying article is included below in its entirety.
>
> ORGANIZERS' ESTIMATE 100,000, POLICE ESTIMATE 50,000, NEW YORK TIMES 
> REPORT 10,000
>
> In another shameful example of biased reporting, the New York Times 
> report of Oct. 25 gave a lower crowd estimate than even the Washington 
> DC police by a factor of five. For decent and objective coverage see 
> the Washington Post article.
>
> The October 25 demonstration had a record number of family members of 
> soldiers, veterans and active duty soldiers; contingents from the Arab 
> American and Muslim community; and many others. To read the 
> A.N.S.W.E.R. report of October 25, go to
> http://www.internationalanswer.org/news/update/102503report.html
>
> Funds are urgently needed so that this movement can continue its 
> renewed momentum and take the next steps. To donate online through our 
> secure server go to http://www.internationalanswer.org/donate.html
>
> - Please circulate this email widely -
>
> ** WASHINGTON POST ARTICLE **
>
> IN D.C., A DIVERSE MIX ROUSES WAR PROTEST
>
> By Manny Fernandez
> Washington Post Staff Writer
> Sunday, October 26, 2003; Page A08
>
> Tens of thousands of antiwar demonstrators marched in Washington 
> yesterday to call for an end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq, turning 
> out in smaller numbers than for prewar protests but making plain their 
> opposition during a noisy yet peaceful procession.
>
> From a stage on the Mall and along a route that ringed the Washington 
> Monument, the White House and the Justice Department, protesters 
> lodged an array of grievances against the Bush administration's 
> domestic and foreign policies, including the financial and human costs 
> of the occupation and the effect of the Patriot Act on civil 
> liberties. Organizers of the two coalitions that sponsored the 
> demonstration, International ANSWER and United for Peace and Justice, 
> said the morning rally at the Washington Monument and a march through 
> downtown that grew throughout the afternoon signaled a revival of the 
> antiwar movement, which had not staged a major street demonstration in 
> Washington since the fall of Baghdad in April.
>
> "The movement has gotten a very big gust of wind in its sails at the 
> very moment that the Bush administration is slipping in the polls," 
> said Brian Becker, an organizer with ANSWER, which stands for Act Now 
> to Stop War and End Racism.
>
> Yesterday's march coincided with protests in more than two dozen 
> cities across the United States and around the world, including San 
> Francisco, Anchorage and Paris. D.C. police and U.S. Park Police were 
> out in force in vehicles, on motorcycles and bicycles and on horseback 
> in the District. D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey and a Park Police 
> spokesman said no arrests had been made as of late afternoon.
>
> The demonstrators represented a diverse mix of dissent, from suburban 
> high school students to gray-haired retirees, from fathers pushing 
> their children in strollers to Muslim American college students 
> shouting through bullhorns. There were people from D.C. Poets Against 
> the War, the Louisville Peace Action Community, Northern Virginians 
> for Peace and Central Ohioans for Peace, among many others. Banners in 
> Spanish, Korean, Urdu, Hebrew, Arabic and Tagalog decried the war. 
> Smaller marches began at various locations in the city and led to the 
> main rally, including those organized by Muslim American and by 
> African American activists.
>
> Demonstrators criticized the administration's prewar assertions about 
> Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction and ties to al Qaeda and 
> condemned the domestic war on terrorism as an attack on civil 
> liberties, particularly the Patriot Act, the anti-terrorism 
> legislation the president signed into law two years ago today. They 
> also denounced the administration's request for $87 billion for 
> reconstruction and military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan while 
> money for schools and social services at home dwindles.
>
> "Don't give him 87 cents!" declared Democratic presidential candidate 
> Al Sharpton. "Give our troops a ride home!" Sharpton was one of the 
> day's many speakers. Their main target was out of town: President Bush 
> left for Camp David on Friday.
>
> The crowd did not appear to match International ANSWER's Jan. 18 
> demonstration, the largest antiwar rally in Washington since the 
> Vietnam War. That protest, was put at 100,000 by police and 500,000 by 
> organizers. Nonetheless, Becker and other organizers said yesterday's 
> turnout exceeded their expectations, and they estimated the attendance 
> at 100,000, with crowds on the march route spilling over what they 
> described as 23 Washington blocks. Ramsey estimated that the event 
> drew 40,000 to 50,000 people.
>
> Organizers said a large number of veterans and military families with 
> loved ones in Iraq participated. Around her neck, Nanci Mansfield of 
> Burnsville, N.C., wore a heart-shaped sign with a picture of her son 
> in military uniform and the words: "Love my soldier. Hate this war." 
> Some of the biggest applause at the rally, which filled a corner of 
> the monument grounds at 17th Street and Constitution Avenue NW, came 
> when Fernando Suarez del Solar of Escondido, Calif., whose Marine son 
> was killed March 27 in Iraq, addressed the crowd. "We need to make Mr. 
> Bush understand: He's not the owner of the lives of our children," he 
> said.
>
> Bill Perry, 56, a construction worker from Levittown, Pa., who served 
> in Vietnam, stood at the edge of the monument grounds in the morning, 
> holding a homemade sign demanding that the United States get out of 
> Iraq and the United Nations get in. "About six blocks up the street, 
> there's a beautiful memorial for 58,000 of our brothers and sisters 
> who died in Vietnam," said Perry, wearing a yellow sweat shirt 
> emblazoned with an "Airborne" eagle insignia. "Already, we've lost 
> about 350 of our own brothers and sisters in this war. One can't help 
> but wonder how big the memorial for this war is going to have to be."
>
> The demonstration, organizers said, signified a new phase in the life 
> of the antiwar movement. It illustrated new cooperation among 
> often-divergent factions, as for the first time, two of the biggest 
> coalitions put their organizational muscle behind one event, sharing 
> expenses and logistical duties. But it also seemed to reveal the 
> movement's erratic momentum, peaking in number and visibility at the 
> start of the year with prewar demonstrations in Washington, New York 
> and around the world, going without large-scale street protests since 
> April and now turning out thousands to rally.
>
> Organizers have said that mobilizing large numbers during a protracted 
> occupation as opposed to a dramatic, imminent threat of war has been a 
> challenge and that street demonstrations are just one way the movement 
> manifests itself. "No one demonstration changes U.S. policy," said 
> Leslie Cagan, national coordinator of United for Peace and Justice. 
> "But it's part of a process, and a demonstration like today's helps to 
> get people recommitted."
>
> In one of yesterday's smaller pre-march gatherings, about 75 
> self-described "anti-capitalist" demonstrators marched around the new 
> Washington Convention Center under heavy police escort, linking claims 
> that the Bush administration is exploiting the people of Iraq to 
> accusations that domestic leaders are neglecting the needs of the 
> poor. Demonstrators circled the convention center, where Mayor Anthony 
> A. Williams (D) was sponsoring an expo for new home buyers and 
> developers in the city.
>
> Not all groups out yesterday were against government policies. Rallies 
> coordinated by the D.C. chapter of Free Republic, a national 
> conservative group, served as a vocal counterpoint to the day, as did 
> two small groups of counter-demonstrators who waved signs along 
> Constitution Avenue denouncing the protesters. Tempers were heated, 
> but there were no major incidents.
>
> At a park a block west of the White House, about 50 people voiced 
> support for the administration at a Free Republic rally and held signs 
> saying, "We gave peace a chance, we got 9/11." The group drew jeers 
> and cries of "Shame, shame" as antiwar marchers passed. One of the 
> counter-protesters, Doug Landry of Baton Rouge, La., a 19-year-old 
> junior at George Washington University, held a sign saying, "Go home 
> you commies."
>
> About 4 p.m., as the march ended and the crowd began to disperse, 
> Mardi Crawford of Albany, N.Y., said that the day had been a success. 
> "I think it's wonderful people are out in the streets saying the same 
> thing a lot of people are saying inside their homes," she said. 
> Crawford protested here in January and March. She said she would keep 
> returning to Washington to protest, as long as she felt a need.
>
> Staff writers Spencer S. Hsu, Sylvia Moreno and Monte Reel contributed 
> to this report.
>
> The article can be found at
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17636-2003Oct25.html
>
> --------------------------------
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