As promised, here’s a round of photos from today’s rally & march for peace in Washington DC. The tally of the crowd I heard was between 200,000 and 300,000, which seems to me about right. I saw only two small clumps of counter-protesters, who were either being assiduously ignored or engaged by debaters.
This round contains shots mainly of various signs, and of the crowd. The next batch I post will have shots of CodePink, and of some people you may (or may not) recognize.
One last point: let me know if this is too many pics for one diary. I did slim them down a fair bit, so our dial-up-ers will still be able to view them.
Continued in Part the Second….
Most excellent to see! (of course, I’m on broadband so, don’t let my enthusiasm be your guide to how many pix you put in a diary!!)
Did Tracy ever get there?
Heh heh heh. Funny story. She arrived at 2am (!) to a most unexpected sight in her room. But I should let her share that story, and photo, with you when she checks in.
I really, really should let Tracy tell that tale.
You are SUCH a tease, but ok, I’ll wait!
meanie!
They’re just so much more Creative. All the repubs can do is haul out the red, white and blue with maybe an Uncle Sam on stilts. We win the creativity awards always. Now we just have to translate that into Votes. Thanks for the great Diaries.
Hi Chamonix1..that does seem to be true doesn’t it… the other side has their flags-as if only they are true Americans-and a few tired or dreary slogans some of which don’t even make sense at times. Besides it’s hard to be creative when they are told what to think and do it ‘unthinkingly’.
Now if our so called democratic leaders would just get on the ball and really start talking to the people maybe they’d learn a thing or two.
ink..How have you been? It’s been a while. I agree our leaders have got to get on the ball and start thinking outside the box as we do…Once that happens..anything is possible with our party. Much better with Reid around instead of Daschel. Boy was he an insiders insider. I am so ready for next Nov to get here and toss all the asshole out of office. Can’t wait to get rid of Arnold too.
Thanks for all your great photos! I am totally jazzed!- although i din’t see part one until after part two.
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… for show of force in Washington and beauty & quality of photos.
Impressed by sheer number of participants in Grand Coalition March On Washington 9/24 in ’05!
Spirited Washington anti-war rally one of largest of Iraq conflict
The rally stretched through the day and into the night, a marathon of music, speechmaking and dissent on the National Mall. Police Chief Charles Ramsey, noting organizers had hoped to draw 100,000 people, said: “I think they probably hit that.”
In the crowd: young activists, nuns whose anti-war activism dates to Vietnam, parents mourning their children’ in uniform lost in Iraq, and uncountable families motivated for the first time to protest.
Connie McCroskey, 58, came from Des Moines, Iowa, with two of her daughters, both in their 20s, for the family’s first demonstration. McCroskey, whose father fought in the Second World War, said she never would have dared protest during the Vietnam War. “Today, I had some courage,” she said.
While united against the war, political beliefs varied. Paul Rutherford, 60, of Vandalia, Mich., said he is a Republican who supported Bush in the last election and still does – except for the war.
“President Bush needs to admit he made a mistake in the war and bring the troops home, and let’s move on,” Rutherford said.
His wife, Judy, 58, called the removal of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein “a noble mission” but said U.S. troops should have left when claims Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction proved unfounded. “We found that there were none and yet we still stay there and innocent people are dying daily,” she said.
Bush Lied, Thousands Died, read one sign. End the Occupation, said another.
Vietnam War veteran Lennie Vucci of Long Beach, Calif., takes part in a massive protest against U.S. involvement in Iraq, in downtown Los Angeles today. Drums pounded, voices boomed, whistles shrieked as demonstrators, some 15,000 by police estimates, marched in the shadows of downtown skyscrapers, one of several California demonstrations on a day of protests across the country. AP Photo/Reed SaxonRamsey said the day’s protest unfolded peacefully under the heavy police presence. “They’re vocal but not violent,” he said. By early evening, police reported three arrests, all for minor offences.
Arthur Pollock, 47, of Cecil County, Md., said he was against the war from the beginning. He wants the soldiers out but not all at once. “They’ve got to leave slowly,” said Pollock, attending his first protest. “It will be utter chaos in that country if we pull them out all at once.”
Folk singer Joan Baez marched with the protesters and later serenaded them at a concert at the foot of the Washington Monument. An icon of the 1960s Vietnam War protests, she said Iraq is already a mess and the troops need to come home immediately.
“There is chaos. There’s bloodshed. There’s carnage.”
“Shame on you,” Cindy Sheehan admonished, directing that portion of her remarks to members of Congress who backed Bush on the war. “How many more of other people’s children are you willing to sacrifice?
She led the crowd in chanting: “Not one more.”
More than 1,900 members of the U.S. armed forces have died since the beginning of the war in March 2003.
Thousands of people attended smaller rallies in cities on the U.S. West Coast, including Los Angeles, San Diego, San Franciso and Seattle.
Protests were also held in Canadian cities.
In Ottawa, about 200 anti-war advocates hit the streets, calling for Canada and the U.S. to end their “occupations” in Iraq, Afghanistan and Haiti. At one point, the marchers paused at Parliament Hill where several speakers denounced Canada’s complicity in U.S.-led wars. The march began at Confederation Park and finished at the U.S. Embassy.
“We love our troops, bring them home,” said Federico Carvajal of Together Against War.
“We don’t want to be responsible for those human rights violations that we are currently responsible for.”
In Toronto, several hundred people waved banners and anti-war signs in front of the U.S. Consulate before marching to the Ontario Liberal party offices.
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thank you so much for the pics, brother feldspar! it was fun to meet you!
Thanks from Daniel and I for all you did.