[Peace] Mood in DC--I'm there

[parenti susan rose]

I've been in and out of Washington DC this past week.

The DC area has 10 million people in it. For the past 2 weeks someone has
been shooting at people--he sits in his car, uses a long range finder, and
shoots with one bullet--and he's shot 11 people, killed 9(the
other two are in'serious condition'). I say 'he', because everyone says
'he'. The victims have been from all races, sex, profession, age( he shot
a 13 year old boy getting out of school). The 'sniper' shoots from
different places in Washington, extending to the Maryland area. Up til
last Monday, he was shooting and killing one person per day.
For the last few days there's been a lull, though everyone is waiting.

Why do I bother the PEACE and SDAS lists with this? Because the mood here
is very nervous, and it's deadly ironic---10 million people scared of one
man, AND at the same time, Congress and the House have just ratified Bush's
'use of force' which will terrify and hurt millions more. IS terrifying
and hurting millions more. Here, in Washington, people jump
out of their cars and rush into whatever shop was their destination,
afraid of being picked off in a parking lot.  Getting gas is frigthening,
because gas stations have been the place where a few of the shootings took place.
Helicopters and planes are heard overhead, and on some nights, constantly.

And I, too, feel the fear, am scared---the last victim was a woman
putting her purchases into her car at a Home Depot parking lot, where I
had been two hours before. High school football games have been cancelled,
business is down everywhere. People are suspicious of strangers. A friend
of mine was picking up fallen leaves in a park, and a man from one of the
houses nearby approached her and asked her what she was doing. There's a
1/2 million dollar reward for finding the sniper, with more money for
information. Already someone, who supposedly gave reliable information
about the color and make of the sniper's car, has been arrested for having
given false information!

So this is Washington. Last week news of the ratification of Bush's
proposal was on page 2, the sniper on page 1.

Women friends of mine  here mumble, "So now men get a taste of what it
feels like to walk at night, alone." Another friend proposes the 'bull's
eye' club, where all people who want to die should wear a bull's eye and a
big sign, 'Shoot ME, I don't want to live!!"

As I said before, I'm not 'above'this fear. When I finish this e mail, and
walk outside, I'll feel how fragile are the bones of my skull. AND I want
to turn to people here in Washington and say, "This is what it feels like
to be in Iraq---waiting for the violence to escalate, Only there won't be
just one sniper."

Should this discourage people from coming here to next week's protest?
NO. Of the few things that are predictable about the sniper's strategies,
it's been noticed that he shoots in areas where he can make a quick get
away--near highways, big streets. A rally, with the crowded streets and
police-patrolled exits, is not a place for a sniper in a car.

And we should make use of the atmosphere of personal fear here, in our
signs. People do understand public terror, in Washington DC.