Column: Protest to save democracy

by Colin Donoghue

Daily Lobo columnist

My feet still hurt.

Sunday night, I left Washington,

D.C., to head back to New

Mexico with other Green Party

members from a massive demonstration

and march against the

war in Iraq and for the impeachment

of President George Bush

and Vice President Dick Cheney.

The event was organized largely

through the Internet on the Web

sites UnitedForPeace.org and

ImpeachBush.org, among other

groups.

Police reported there were

150,000 protesters, while organizers

said 300,000 attended.

From children to the elderly -

the amount of people was amazing.

I wish I could have seen an

aerial view - the vibrant colors

of signs and people circling the

White House, the epicenter of the

public's discontent.

Some of the marchers had signs

claiming Bush is the Antichrist,

though many more simply called

for the impeachment of Bush and

Cheney for war crimes and stealing

elections.

There were chants that varied

as much as the written messages.

They included "The people united

will never be defeated" and the

classic "Ain't no power like the

power of the people, 'cause the

power of the people won't stop."

When passing the front of

the White House, many people

stopped to face the facade and

let out further political dissent.

These vocal messages included

some with profanity, and others

like "Get out of our house." Others

repeated the call "Impeach

Bush now" with more intense and

strained shouts.

One marcher was holding a

cross, which he thrust toward

the White House, shouting, "Out,

demon, out. The power of Christ

compels you."

Some may dismiss these signs

and chants as hysteria without

any valid foundation, but I think

everyone there had specific reasons

for coming. This was not a

protest just for the thrill of protesting

- people came from all

over the country because of a

deep frustration and disagreement

with the policies of the

Bush administration.

The main call of the protesters

was for the end of the occupation

of Iraq, because it was based on

lies and propaganda fed to the

American people and the world.

Bush, Cheney and other top administration

officials often assert

there were extensive ties between

Saddam Hussein's government

and Osama bin Laden's terrorist

network, and Saddam was stockpiling

weapons of mass destruction.

Both claims are completely

false.

The illegality of this pre-emptive

war and the dangerous precedent

it set for the rest of the

world was a common point of

those who spoke during the premarch

rally. Some pointed out

that although the majority of the

hijackers were from Saudi Arabia,

the Bush administration has

never included that nation in its

Axis of Evil and has maintained

close relationships with the dictatorial

Saudi royal family.

The false claim of an Iraqi connection

to al Qaeda, along with

the false claims of weapons of

mass destruction in Iraq, makes

the Iraq war - which has killed

tens of thousands of civilians - a

crime against humanity.

To use hundreds of billions of

tax dollars for an unjust war that

the majority of Americans think

of as a mistake is treasonous.

The claim that we can't pull our

troops out because it will result

in a bloodbath ignores the facts

that Iraq has been and continues

to be a scene of carnage due to

our presence, and that there can

be an international peacekeeping

force to replace an American occupying

force.

Saddam should have been dealt

with through international intervention

and judicial proceedings.

This war was really fought for imperialistic

purposes, not for the

well-being of Iraqi people, and

Bush's claim that this war is helping

the fight against terrorism is

ridiculous - terrorist acts have

increased since Sept. 11, 2001,

along with the hatred for America

that spawns new terrorists.

Large demonstrations are important

for the purpose of moving

our government toward a real

democracy. When the truth can't

be found in the mass media and

the will of the majority is ignored,

the logical consequence is for the

public to take to the streets, to

non-violently demand the return

of the power to the people.

My feet still hurt, but my mind

feels good. I know I was with the

spirit of the majority of Americans,

calling for a more just,

democratic world based on truth

and compassion.