A raucous and colorful multitude of protesters, led by some of the aging activists of the past, staged rallies and a march on the Capitol on Saturday to demand that the United States end its war in Iraq.
Tens of thousands of people angry about the war and other policies of the Bush administration danced, sang, shouted and chanted their opposition.
They came from across the country and across the activist spectrum. Many seemed to be younger than 30, but there were others who said they had been at the famed anti-war protests of the 1960s and 70s.
They came to Washington at what they said was a moment of opportunity to push the new Congress to take action against the war, even as the administration is accelerating plans to send an additional 21,500 troops to Iraq.
While Saturday’s crowd was large and vociferous, its size was unclear because there was no official crowd estimate.
The overriding complaint was the U.S. pursuit of the war in Iraq.
“Peace is controversial,” civil rights and community activist Jesse Jackson, 65, said in a rousing address to the crowd gathered at the east end of the National Mall. “But so is war. The fruit of peace is so much sweeter.”
Some came on behalf of relatives who were in the service.
Oriana Futrell, 21, of Spokane, Wash., carried a sign that said: “Bring my husband home now.”
Among the celebrities who appeared was Jane Fonda, 69, the actress and activist who during the Vietnam War was criticized for sympathizing with the North Vietnamese. She told the crowd that this was the first time she had spoken at an anti-war rally in 34 years.
“I’ve been afraid that because of the lies that have been and continue to be spread about me and that war, that they would be used to hurt this new anti-war movement,” she said. “But silence is no longer an option.”
Fonda’s presence drew counter protesters. Members of the conservative Free Republic group picketed an anti-war rally at the Navy Memorial where Fonda spoke earlier in the day. “Hanoi Jane,” one sign read. “Wrong then, wrong now.”
The day’s events, which unfolded peacefully, were organized chiefly by a group called United for Peace and Justice, which describes itself as a coalition of 1,400 local and national organizations.
Chicago protesters delayed
In Chicago, 100 protesters gathered at Midway Airport hoping to travel to Washington. But after their early-morning flight was delayed, many went home because they would have arrived at the protests too late to hear the main speakers.
“I’m extremely disappointed I won’t be there,” said Kathryn Weber. “It’s important to express dissent, especially about this war.”
Some did catch later flights.
“Much of the protest will be over,” said John Souder Roser. “But we want to let our government know that we feel this is an illegal, improper, murderous activity called war that we’re participating in.”
ATA spokesman Rick High-tower said wing-flap maintenance delayed their flight for nearly four hours; it took off at 11:42 a.m. CST.
At a rally at the Navy Memorial that began at 9 a.m. CST, several thousand activists heard speeches by actor Sean Penn, presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, U.S. Reps. Maxine Waters and Lynne Woolsey, both California Democrats, and a brief greeting from Fonda.
But the most moving words were Futrell’s.
“My husband deployed last June to Iraq,” she said. “He is an Army infantry officer currently patrolling the streets of Baghdad. And I just have to say I’m sick of attending the funerals of my friends. I have seen the weeping majors. I have seen the weeping colonels. I am sick of the death.
“I don’t know what else to say, other than: Bring them home,” she said. “It is time. We need to bring them home where they can be safe.”
The main rally began at 10 a.m. on the Mall and featured more speeches, and a crowd that seemed to grow as the weather warmed.
Laura Sinderbrand, 79, and her husband, Alvin, 84, of New York City, said they attended dozens of Washington protests against the Vietnam War during the 1960s and early ’70s.
Draft a difference
“The biggest difference back then, of course, was the draft,” said Alvin Sinderbrand, a retired patent attorney. “That made everything much more emotional. There was a sense that everybody was vulnerable.”
The Sinderbrands opposed involvement in Iraq from the beginning, they said, attending a 2003 protest here. The couple made the protest a day trip. “We’re doing it with the hope that it’s going to be the last time we need to protest this,” said Laura Sinderbrand.
