SwiftVets.com

[mtboone]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Several thousand anti-war demonstrators marched through downtown Washington on Saturday, clashing with police at the foot of the Capitol steps where more than 190 protesters were arrested.
The group marched from the White House to the Capitol to demand an end to the Iraq war. Their numbers stretched for blocks along Pennsylvania Avenue, and they held banners and signs and chanted, "What do we want? Troops out. When do we want it? Now."

Army veteran Justin Cliburn, 25, of Lawton, Okla., was among a contingent of Iraq veterans in attendance.

"We're occupying a people who do not want us there," Cliburn said of Iraq. "We're here to show that it isn't just a bunch of old hippies from the 60s who are against this war."

Counterprotesters lined the sidewalks behind metal barricades. There were some heated shouting matches between the two sides.

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The arrests came after protesters lay down on the Capitol lawn in what they called a "die in" — with signs on top of their bodies to represent soldiers killed in Iraq. When police took no action, some of the protesters started climbing over a barricade at the foot of the Capitol steps.

Many were arrested without a struggle after they jumped over the waist-high barrier. But some grew angry as police with shields and riot gear attempted to push them back. At least two people were showered with chemical spray. Protesters responded by throwing signs and chanting: "Shame on you."

The number of arrests by Capitol Police on Saturday was much higher than previous anti-war rallies in Washington this year. Five people were arrested at a protest outside the Pentagon in March when they walked onto a bridge that had been closed off to accommodate the demonstration, then refused to leave. And at a rally in January, about 50 demonstrators blocked a street near the Capitol, but they were dispersed without arrests.

The protesters gathered earlier Saturday near the White House in Lafayette Park with signs saying "End the war now" and calling for President Bush's impeachment. The rally was organized by the ANSWER Coalition and other groups.

Organizers estimated that nearly 100,000 people attended the rally and march. That number could not be confirmed; police did not give their own estimate. A permit for the march obtained in advance by the ANSWER Coalition had projected 10,000.

Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan told the crowd is was time to be assertive.

"It's time to lay our bodies on the line and say we've had enough," she said. "It's time to shut this city down."

About 13 blocks away, nearly 1,000 counterprotesters gathered near the Washington Monument.

I do not believe that this news organization every covered any part of this Gathering of Eagles.






Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Robert "Buzz" Patterson, speaking from a stage to crowds clad in camouflage, American flag bandanas and Harley Davidson jackets, said he wanted to send three messages.

"Congress, quit playing games with our troops. Terrorists, we will find you and kill you," he said. "And to our troops, we're here for you, and we support you."

In none of their descriptions do they say how they are dressed. I was there March 17th and they were weird. I also notice all the stories are the same on CNN and USAToday, do they both have only one reporter to cover the same.
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Terry Boone PCF 90
Qui Nhon 68-69

[dcornutt]

I dont' get it boone. During Vietnam there was a "draft". That was part of the protests was being "involunarily" sent to fight in a war you may or may not have agreed with (that was never part of the equation). As far as I know, the miltiary has yet to adopted an "opt out" provision for obeying orders based on one's own personal preferece in obeying it. NOW..the protesters "want" a draft and we have people who volunteer to join the service and go to Iraq...then turn around and protest having been sent there? Come on man. That's just too rich for words.

I'm still trying to figure out why/how somebody joins the military after 9/11, after Afghanistan and years after the initial invasion of Iraq..and with on-going major combat operations in both theaters....and doesn't figure out till they get back from being sent there..that they really, actually objected to the entire policy of those operations to start with??? Are they trying to pretend like they were somehow drafted? Or are they protesting their own decision to join?

Bah.

[I B Squidly]

off the point;

Anyone heard from RB Shirley?
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"KILL ALL THE LAWYERS!"

-Wlm Shakespeare

[Anker-Klanker]

[RiflemanDD730]

Anker-Klanker

[mtboone]

[Navy wife]

My hubbie and I joined the counter protesters lining Pennsylvania Avenue and had a wonderful time yelling at the Anti-War folks. A woman gave my husband some pennies that she had painted silver. As the marchers were passing, he held out his hand and said "here are some pieces of silver, traitor!" A woman got so incensed, she slapped the coins out of his hand!