Iraq war veteran Geoff Millard, 26, of Columbia Heights wore fatigues and clutched an American flag as he lay on the ground before he was arrested.
"It's time for the peace movement to take the next step past protest and to resistance," said Millard, president of D.C. chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War.
~~~~~~~
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."
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"It's TIME... It's time to lay our bodies on the line and say we've had enough," (Cindy Sheehan) said. "It's time to shut this city down."
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“...This is our lunch counter moment for the 21st Century... If we fail to show up, and fulfill our destiny, then not only will the blood of so many innocent Iraqi civilians be on our hands, but our generation will be known throughout history, as the generation of least resistance.”
- Rev. Lennox Yearwood, President, Hip Hop Caucus
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Like many yesterday, Deborah Johns, the mother of a sergeant who has served three tours in Iraq, raised the Vietnam War for comparison.
"We're not going to let the domestic enemy here at home defeat us like they did then," she said. "No retreat, no surrender. Not now, not ever."
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LIVE from DC: The Insurrection at The Capitol
(The following includes a first person account of what happened, plus numerous VIDEO clips showing the events.)
It's me again. I just got out of Jail, and I can't wait to tellya all about it.
Your Old Hippie from the 60s, ponytail firmly in place, medicare card in my back pocket -- I'm here to give all of ya a first person, hands on, no kiddin, eyeball to eyeball, start to finish account of what happened yesterday, September 15, 2007, when I joined tens of thousands of people at the Demonstration, Direct Action and Resistance in Washington DC.
There was no way I was gonna show up at another bullshit demo, with the cute t shirts and witty signs, and hours of speeches about every injustice on the planet. No way I was interested in going to another reunion of the class of '67.
If this one didn't include some serious resistance, and mass civil disobedience, I was staying home with my Chambers Brothers LPs.
This one had to be different.
Now of course, there was plenty that was the same. A lot of obsolete A.N.S.W.E.R. stuff, sung to the melody of "Let's March Again, Like We Did Last Summer."
Signs and speeches, pamphlets, tshirts, slogans and dress up, lotsa grey hair, a Rally and even We Shall Overcome.
But ..........
This one was different.
This one was different because they key event, a mass Die In at The U.S. Capitol, was not controlled by the old leftie apparatchiks (like me f'rinstance). The key elements were built instead on the energy of the young people upon whom we must truly rely if change is to come.
Yeah, there was plenty of the sameoldsameold. But this time- the spearhead- physically energetically and spiritually- wasn't old Hippies, but our grandchildren- the new SDS and other verrrry youthful organizations, and most of all, the Iraq Veterans Against The War. (IVAW).
If you want the true test on how crucial and vital was the IVAW, the giveaway is that The Washington Post barely admits they existed, and the New York Times not at all. That proves it. The old media painted this as just another snore, with the same old players.
The IVAW is led by U.S. Marine Sergeant Adam Kokesh, an Iraq vet whose ramrod posture and 400 pound bench press body tell ya just about all ya need to know. A man who backs down from nothing, and stands up for everything he believes in.
"...We have come to a point in history when our government’s intents are so far from the will of the people that we have to rise up!
WHEN INJUSTICE BECOMES LAW, RESISTANCE BECOMES DUTY! ... "
"Today marks a turning point for our movement. Today we make the shift from protesting to direct action. Today we begin to restore the rightful order in our democracy. Today is the day the people stop fearing the government, and the government starts fearing the people!
Today may very well mark the beginning of the American anti-fascism revolution. March with us. Honor the dead with us. If you are willing to risk arrest, lie in the street, if not, lie in the grass. Die-in when you hear the air raid sirens. Raise your voice and your fist with us in defiance to send a message to our leadership. If you will not make peace for us, we will make it for ourselves! Power to the people! "
(Kokesh speech delivered at the Rally September 15.)
The Plan was-- to Rally at Lafayette Park, then form up on 15th and Pennsylvania- and have the IVAW in a single column leading first the Veterans For Peace (VFP) and then the ENTIRE vast sea of marchers down Penn Ave. to The Capitol. At The Capitol, thousands were to join in a Die In at the Peace Monument, perform civil disobedience and resistance, refuse to move, and be arrested en masse.
I was fortunate enough to be invited to join the VFP front line of security. Our job was to form a phalanx of protection for the IVAW and VFP flank as the march proceeded, and then to form a circle of protection for them when the die in happened.
This left me in the best spot - the very front of the march, often literally hand in hand with my friends from VFP, in step with the IVAW, and frequently nose to nose and belly to belly with the misguided and brainwashed but dangerous and ugly Pro War Demonstrators, largely the nefarious and CIA funded Gathering of Eagles. The Police made sure that our march headed straight into the teeth of the pro war gauntlet, where they accosted us from both sides.(see quote from Deb Johns above. This was sadly and frighteningly typical).
(Complicit Tools that they are, the focus of the Pimp Press, with bigtime assistance from The Cops, was to promote the conflicts and divisions between us, 1- bestowing the Counter Protesters with equal Gravitas and much more than equal space though they numbered maybe 1000 to our tens of thousands ---- and 2- publishing photos portraying the anti war groups as the usual old beatnik fringe. The house pet Dinosaur Press unrelentlingly casts us as the domestic Sunni and Shiia, and the more "sectarian violence" the better.)
Maybe the pro warrists could despise us peaceniks, but what could they scream at the IVAW members, some of them actual Active Reserve ?
The presence of these men and women in their combat camouflage, people just like their own husbands and sons and mothers and daughters, confronted the pro war people with the clear and undeniable reality that many people who had BEEN THERE saw the War for what is was, and were publicly proclaiming the murderous actions of themselves, their buddies and comrades, their commanders, The Congress who provided the funds, the U.S. Government, and the Commander In Chief. There it was in their face-- not the railings of "A.N.S.W.E.R. Commies" (their nickname for us) but-- the undeniable truth, spoken by undeniable witnesses.
The Veterans restated their Oath of allegiance to defend the Constitution against ALL enemies ("foreign and domestic, especially domestic")
Sgt. Kokesh marched alongside his column, and as they marched they chanted the cadence- "Who Are WE?" "We are THE TROOPS" "How Do You SUPPORT US ?" "Bring US HOME!" ----
We reached the Capitol Grounds, but instead of gathering around the Peace Monument, The Cops shuttled us to the left, where our ranks, previously 18-25 across, had to narrow down to 5 or 6 across, and walk through grass and dirt, disjointed and exposed. (Check the map by accessing
http://www.homeandabroad.com/c/15/Site/71670_Peace_Monument_visit.html and clicking VIEW MAP.) In what I think was an ambush, we ended up separated from the main contingent, who were massed behind us on the Capitol lawn. Our smaller group was pushed forward into a long rectangular area, surrounded and enclosed by trees, and into a dead end-- where some stone steps led up a narrow opening in a concrete and stone wall fronting the large stone Entry Plaza to The Capitol building.
The Cops were waiting for us behind steel barricades, in full riot gear: Darth Vader helmets and full body armor.
Initially, a few brave souls jumped the barricades and submitted to arrest, and more joined them.
The signal for the die-in was given (an air raid siren) and the people began to lie down. The cops didn't move, staying behind their barricades.
After a long standoff, Adam Kokesh spoke to the massed crowd on the lawn, Brian Becker of ANSWER jumped up on the stone wall, and leaped over the barricade into the police line, and was followed immediately by Kokesh, the IVAW contingent, the amazing Col. Ann Wright,
and then hundreds of others, including Code Pink and your old hippie pal.
Out of tens of thousands, a few hundred jumped, and got arrested. No one can dispute the bravery of those who leaped into the police lines, nor can we doubt the motives.
But - though I participated fully, and am proud of doing so- I think it was misguided and counter productive.
What we needed to do was STAY on the ground. Lie down and not get up. Refuse to move. If it took hours or days, we should have lain, unmoving and resistant, and forced the police to come and get us, drag us off, one by one. We should never have gone to them.
We needed Gandhi as our model, not the Military. We needed to perform true passive resistance, and not literally jump into the arms of the opposition. We needed to STOP BUSINESS AS USUAL.
"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will."
Adam Kokesh is a smart and brave man, (my respect and admiration for him are obvious in the above) and what he has accomplished -- along with his incredible organization, cannot be praised highly enough. But Adam and ALL of us need to learn -- that confrontation does not mean aggression, that the tactics of The Police and the Military should not be used in our cause. We should never have jumped the wall. We should STILL be lying down, STILL be on the concrete, and not become impatient or aggressive but implacably unmovably passive -- thus to create true resistance.
Passive resistance takes more courage than physical confrontation. Its easy to get pissed off, and want to ACT. Being brainwashed by American education media and society, we come to believe that ACTION means DOING something. But Gandhi knew that dedicated masses doing NOTHING is the most forceful and effective method for gaining change. By using Police methods, by invading, attacking, trespassing, we became Them, and ultimately we failed.
"You must be the change you want to see in the world."
We desperately need the energy and will, and yes the physical presence and strength of the IVAW, and all the other young people who must now take over the movement. But I pray that they can see the bigger picture, and throw off their conditioning and training from American schools, homes, TV shows, and military field manuals.
People say that Sept. 15 was a turning point. And I agree.
We must now make it a turning point for a new set of tactics, where true resistance can be achieved.
We must take to the streets, as Adam and Cindy and Rev Yearwood have all said. We MUST.
But what do we do when we GET there ? Do we storm the police stations ? Do we throw rocks at the windows of Bechtel's offices ?
Do we invade CONGRESS to demand their help ?
None of the above.
Congress is THEM, and both Parties are complicit and participatory. One does not demand that Co Conspirators end The Conspiracy.
Forget Congress.
We must begin true resistance, we must take to the streets, and lie down in the streets, and stop ALL business as usual, everywhere we can, for as long as we can.
Our target is not Congress, or Bush, or Petraeus. The target is US.
WE must reach The People, and bring the question to THEM.
In their home towns, in their offices, in their schools, in their counting houses.
For us to be successful we must renounce the methods of our Oppressors, and take on the ways of Gandhi and King.
Passive mass resistance, everywhere we can.
Imagine if no one had jumped over the wall, and hundreds if not thousands of us were STILL lying down in front of the Capitol as you read this.
How much easier it is to get masses of people to join in when the tactic is passive resistance. How much more effective and enduring is unending resistance.
No more of the same old fruitless ways- marches, rallies, signs, jumping into the arms of the police, or demanding morally correct action from our enemies.
The old ways lead to the old results.
Let's use our new strength and our new momentum to do those things that can truly bring change.
Tomorrow- I'll continue- with the story of what happened to us once we were thrown to the ground, arrested, hand cuffed, and treated like AbuGhraibians.
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100,000 March Against Iraq War in Washington
200 Arrested in Dramatic Mass Die-In
Yesterday, nearly 100,000 people -- led by anti-war Iraq veterans, military families and others -- marched from the White House to the Capitol in Washington, D.C. to demand an immediate end to the occupation of Iraq. The march concluded with a dramatic "die-in" of 5,000 people surrounding the Capitol. Almost 200 people were arrested when police prevented them taking an anti-war message to Congress.
People marched shoulder-to-shoulder on eight-lane-wide Pennsylvania Avenue, with the densely packed march stretching more than 10 blocks. It was a historic action and a step forward for the anti-war movement.
Protesters surged onto the Capitol's south lawn and up the steps where they were met by a police line. There, Iraq veterans conducted a solemn ceremony to memorialize the U.S. soldiers and Iraqis killed in the war. Over 5,000 people then lay down in a symbolic "die-in" -- one of the largest acts of civil disobedience in recent years.
One hundred ninety-seven people, including dozens of veterans and activists, were arrested when they tried to deliver their anti-war message to Congress and were stopped by the police. Among the arrested were Adam Kokesh, Liam Madden, Jeff Millard, and Garrett Reppenhagen of Iraq Veterans Against the War; Brian Becker, National Coordinator of the ANSWER Coalition; Ann Wright, former U.S. Army Colonel; Michael Prysner, Iraq war veteran and ANSWER activist in Florida; union president Gloria La Riva; and Eugene Puryear, Howard University student and National Coordinator of Youth & Student ANSWER.
Police pepper-sprayed demonstrators without provocation.
This mass action came on the heels of the pro-war Petraeus report to Congress and Bush's wholehearted endorsement of the report. Meanwhile, the war rages on, destroying Iraqi society. Nearly 4,000 U.S. solidiers and up to 1 million Iraqis have died since the U.S. invasion in March 2003.
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Thousands March in D.C. War Protest
By Matthew Barakat
WASHINGTON (AP) — Several thousand anti-war demonstrators marched through downtown Washington on Saturday, clashing with police at the foot of the Capitol steps where at least 160 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. 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 more than 100,000 people attended the rally and march. That number could not be confirmed; police did not give their own estimate. But there appeared to be tens of thousands of people in attendance. 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, frequently erupting in chants of "U-S-A" and waving American flags.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."
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