Iraq War 5th year: Twin Cities Protest

We can't believe it has been five years that the US has been in iraq. The war and occupation has lasted longer than WW II and there is no end in sight. The people of the Twin Cities showed their displeasure by taking to the streets. Nearly 2000 persons protested and their unique signs and mostly solemn faces tell the whole story. Not surprisingly, I didn't see any signs declaring that "war is romantic", which is what George W. Bush said the other day. Instead, I saw signs that were critical of torture, killing of innocent civilians, and crony capitalism. Those are the kinds of things that Barack Obama's preacher was complaining about; that doesn't sound like the rhetoric of a "crazy uncle" to me. He sounds like a man of the cloth.

Organizers of the rally included Women Against Military Madness, Military Families Speak Out, YAWR, The Anti-War Committee, and Veterans for Peace, to name a few. A lot of members of the First Universalist Church of Minneapolis participated and they were easily recognized by their blue hats. The protest began at Lake and Lyndale Ave with members of Youth Against War and Racism (YAWR) meeting at a US Army recruiting center. Afterwards, YAWR joined the main group at Lake and Hennepin and the everyone walked from there to Loring Park. The entire protest was held in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

ps. Is Feingold single? Someone in Minneapolis wants to know (see sign below).

More images at CircleVision.org (not mine)

Comments

[Slugbug]

You got some great shots! The redhead with the nice haircut is kind of gratuitous LOL. I do see her little pin. I kind of forgot about ours and now I feel so guilty. I am usually one of the "usual suspects," not that I want to be. Not in Our Name had an event here today and if the newspaper said 500 it was probably 1000. ANSWER has one on Weds. night and I think there are other candle light vigils.

The whole thing is a big shame. See the stats on the story below where I wrote a little more. It's sickening. Jerome a Paris at DailyKos had this cool energy plan that would take this country out of bankruptcy and we would have enough money to do it if we weren't at war. (It involves fixing our energy infrastructure and would create jobs.)

There has been alot of controversy about what certain preachers said lately. I must say that I agree with some of the controversial things that were said. Truth hurts and people don't want to hear it.

[Krista]

Thanks for AGAIN documenting this event on film -- well, not actual FILM, but you know what I mean. You do great work. We hope you'll be able to join us at the Capitol at noon on March 19 for Eyes Wide Open.

[kayakbiker]

Krista, I will try to be there and right now it appears I can make it to the Eyes Wide Open event.

Thanks for stopping by.

[Brian]

Hey kayakbiker,

thanks for posting all these! You always take really great shots. From up there on the overpass, were you able to get a crowd estimate?

[Brian]

Oh, so I see you included that in the text at the beginning... my bad. Damn seductive pictures drawing my attention away! :-)

[Kat]

Beautiful shots. I don't bother taking pics any more when I see you there, friend. You always capture the heart and soul of the events. Posted a link at OpEd News: http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/link.php?id=54540

[kayakbiker]

Thanks Kat for the link (and the nice comment). I was wondering how I was getting referrals from that site. The Strib had the rally covered but they used a high-powered telephoto lens to take the crowd shot which made it look smaller than it was, The Strib quoted the police and the rally organizers for estimates of the crowd size and cited both. I don't know how the police made their estimate, but the organizers used counters and had at least two persons clicking as persons walked by. I know because they were on the bridge with me as I captured images of the crowd.

[not my president]

Watch the testimony of the winter soldiers:
http://ivaw.org/index.html

Re crowd size - usually it's double what the newspapers say.

[not my president]

Cool I went to the OpE site & it links nicely to here!!

[MaineTruth]

Women more than men can strip war of its glamour and its out-of-date heroisms and patriotisms, and see it as a demon of destruction and hideous wrong.

Lillian Wald, nurse, public health advocate, social worker.

[sistersilverwolf]

Viewing your photo journal has to be the next best thing to being there in person. Thanks.

[sistersilverwolf]

I like your hot links.
Governor Bush (who was not elected president) is not "to old" to take his place in the front lines of the war he started. That's like saying the Iraqi children are "too young" to be there. I think he should sign up and go have his "exciting, romantic fling" that he most surely missed by avoiding Vietnam. It's not too late Mr. Bush, come January you will be out of work and have plenty of time. And, as a bonus, it might even earn you a little respect.

[ChaiCat]

Great photographs Kyakbiker. I am glad you were able to attend.

[not my president]

Check out Adam Kokesh at 97:20 on Panel #1 Rules of Engagement. Winter Soldier link.

[Renegade Eye]

Thank you for the coverage. It was the best I've seen.

[not my president]

I liked this response from a friend:

I thought the man in his suit and trench coat, holding the flag and
"impeach" sign made the loudest statement of all!!!

The media toilet bowl is once again swiftboating our Democratic candidates
and party. As Rome burns "Feds bail out Wall Street", the media fiddles and
swiftboats Dems over Geraldine Ferraro, Rev. Wright, the power of the
superdelegates, and what to do with Florida/Michigan. Not a negative word
about what is happening in the nary a word of McCain and his rabid support
of those right wing evangelicals.

What really burns us is how religion has become so front and center in
politics since the rise of GW. There is a real reason why the founders
decided to separate politics from religion. Religion has become so angry,
divisive, intolerant, and contentious. As all the religious faithful rise
from their pews, they are bid adieu with "Go in Peace!" It is so laughable.

[A student]

SDS is back again!

[Macalester SDS]

Dare to struggle, Dare to win SDS is back again!

[zapata]

I *love* the businessman with earmuffs, flag and the impeach sign.

And I love minnesotans!

[likwidshoe]

"Not surprisingly, I didn't see any signs declaring that 'war is romantic', which is what George W. Bush said the other day."

That's not what he said, so why the quotes?

You don't even care.

It looks like you've got dishonest propaganda to disseminate, so carry on.

[KB: Likwidshoe, Here is your quote]

"It must be exciting for you ... in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger. " George W Bush.

Chickenhawks have a much different view of war than those of us who are real war veterans. I've read some of the comments on the right-wing sites about the photos here. One even criticized the families of the soldiers for wearing yellow ribbons as being so passe. When my brother-in-law was in Iraq we worried for his safety daily. Is criticism of the families of the soldiers part of the right's strategy of blaming everyone who doesn't agree with the policy?

[KB: Does Likwidshoe have problems with religious tolerance?]

From Likwidshoe's blog's comments (the reader's comment is about Likwidshoe's description of a women in one of my photos (Likwidshoe's writing in quotes): "Glad to see this girl put on donned a burka to show her solidarity with all the Muslim women who just love to wear them. It’s good to support cultural differences right? Even if those differences are enforced by beatings."

First, she’s wearing a niqab, not a burka. Second… since you don’t even know the difference, are you sure you’re qualified to state that the only reason Islamic women keep the hijab is because they are beaten? This will be a surprise to one helluva lot of Muslim women, that’s for damn sure.

Todd on March 17, 2008 at 01:58 pm

Oh, and this is just too obvious… but:

"Glad to see this girl put on donned a burka to show her solidarity with all the Muslim women who just love to wear them."

Gee.... isn’t it possible that she wore a niqab because… I don’t know… because she’s a Muslim?

[rebel yell]

Has anyone had trouble getting here from google??? I had to load Mozilla to get to anything related to this page.......
From google, even tho I typed in the entire url, I got all adverts?!
Guess I shouldn't be too amazed ...

SDS - an oldster like me LOVES to see that!

[not my president]

Noam Chomsky is emeritus professor of linguistics and philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This is taken from Chomsky's Opinion piece in today's Age:

http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/voices-go-unheard-as-iraq-carnage-continues/2008/03/18/1205602383433.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

Thanks to the generosity of Jordan and Syria, the millions of refugees fleeing the wreckage of Iraq, including most of the professional classes, have not been simply wiped out. But that welcome is fading, for one reason because Jordan and Syria receive no meaningful support from the perpetrators of the crimes in Washington and London; the idea that they might admit these victims, beyond a trickle, is too outlandish to consider. Sectarian warfare has devastated Iraq. Baghdad and other areas have been subjected to brutal ethnic cleansing and left in the hands of warlords and militias, the primary thrust of the current counterinsurgency strategy developed by General David Petraeus, who won his fame by pacifying Mosul, now the scene of some of the most extreme violence.

[Joltin' Django]

I got news for the goofy-looking gal holding the "phallic-like weapons" sign:

Russ Feingold is a real man 'bout like Paris Hilton is a rocket scientist.

That said, the lead editorial in today's "Wall Street Journal" (www.opinionjournal.com) is more learned, more informed, and more sane than anything you anti-war nutbuckets have said and/or thinked in the last, oh, 36 months.

Idiots, the lot of you ...