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March 19, 2008

50 protesters mark the start of sixth year in Iraq

PROVIDENCE -- A group of 50 protesters marked the start of the sixth year of the War on Iraq today with a march through the rainy streets of downtown Providence that ended with a rally on the State House lawn.

The anti-war activists snaked past the Westminster Street headquarters of Textron Inc., the weapons manufacturer, and continued past two military recruiting offices on Weybosset Street.

"The cost of just one day of the occupation of Iraq is obscene by any measure," said Martha Yager, director of the American Friends Services Committee. "When we consider that basic human needs are going unmet right here at home, we should all be saying, 'No more!' to five years of war and occupation."

The protesters gathered at Burnside Park, across the street from Kennedy Plaza and U.S. District Court. They wore rain gear and carried posters urging the public to end the bloodshed. Several of the participants played marching band instruments such as trombones, trumpets and tubas.

A half-dozen uniformed Providence police officers kept an eye on the peaceful gathering.
Yager distributed colorful posters called "Dreams and Nighmares," of Iraqis that the protesters carried on the march. The photographs depict joyous Iraqis and others who have suffered from living in a war-torn country.

Most Americans know that 4,000 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq, but, she said, the public does not realize that a million Iraqis have perished. "We also need to worry about our brothers and sisters in Iraq," she said.

Paul Hubbard, of the Rhode Island Mobilization Committee to End the War and Occupation, said he just returned from Washington, D.C., where 300 Iraqi veterans came out in force against the war.

"We’re here not only to make a moral statement," he said. "We don’t want the war to continue for one more day."

Among the other groups who participated in or supported the protest were Rhode Island Community Coalition for Peace; Workers International League; Rhode Island Unitarian-Universalists for Social Justice; Providence Branch of the International Socialist Organization; MoveOn; Operation Iraqi Freedom; Green Party of Rhode Island; Providence Students for a Democratic Society; South Kingstown Justice and Peace Advocacy; and East Bay Citizens for Peace.

-- Journal staff writer W. Zachary Malinowski

Posted by Mike McKinney  at 4:49 PM | Permalink

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