VALLEY FORGE, Pennsylvania, 18 March 2003 — Rallies for and against a US military strike on Iraq became more frequent and the voices grew louder as Washington moved closer to war. Eight opponents of a war were arrested yesterday at Traverse City, Michigan, when they tried to block an army reserve convoy headed to a training area. One handcuffed himself to a truck and the other seven locked arms in front of the vehicle, police said. They were arrested on misdemeanor charges.
Despite some verbal sparring, “it was peaceful overall,” said Grand Traverse County sheriff’s Capt. Thomas Emerson. “The ones chained to the truck were peaceful.” Some 6,000 people gathered Sunday on a field near Valley Forge National Historical Park in Pennsylvania for the “Rally for America,” organized by syndicated radio host Glenn Beck, police said.
Waving flags and holding signs, the crowd sang patriotic songs and helped to raise a gigantic American flag before reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Martin Zak said he thinks the Iraqi people are suffering and that Saddam Hussein has become far too dangerous to the rest of the world. He thinks war is the only answer. “My feeling is that it has come to a head,” Zak said.
In Chicago on Sunday, the loudest voices rang out in opposition to war. Organizers said an estimated 10,000 people crammed Chicago’s Daley Plaza to join religious, labor and community leaders and hoist American flags and placards with slogans such as: “Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld. The real axis of evil.” “We are concerned with all... And for all of those who question our patriotism,” said Calvin Morris of Chicago’s Community Renewal Society.
“We love America because America is a place where when things are out of order, people can disagree and protest.”
The rallies capped a weekend of protests around the nation and world, including one in Washington that park officials granted a permit to allow 20,000 people. Protesters in Portland, Oregon, held a rally of similar proportions.
In many states and cities, multiple events were held by groups with varying views. In Mobile, Alabama, the organizer of a rally in support of US troops stressed the group was not supporting war, but unity. “We’re not pro-war by any means,” said Barna Goff. “Regardless of how you feel about war, you have to stand together.” Other protests across the country on Sunday included: About 2,000 people gathered at a church in Detroit and listened to religious leaders call a war with Iraq “an affront to God and a crime against humanity.”
About 1,200 people led by Christian and Muslim clergy staged a mock funeral in St. Paul, Minnesota, at the Cathedral of St. Paul for those who would die if the United States wages war. Some 300 people held candles in the rain at a park in Albuquerque, New Mexico, singing and carrying a placards opposing war. Another 300 protesters marched through downtown Los Angeles to demand federal spending on health care and education, not war. Several hundred anti-war protesters gathered in Pittsburgh to protest any military strike. Veterans and families of military personnel stationed in the Middle East were among hundreds of protesters who marched in downtown Providence, Rhode Island, to oppose war.
In Oklahoma City, nearly 400 people lined downtown streets in a prayerful plea for peace. More than 300 people rallied in Hartford, Connecticut, carrying candles and singing anti-war and patriotic songs. Hundreds came together at other locations throughout the state.
In Milwaukee, more than 200 people lined several blocks in a candlelight vigil for peace. About 200 residents gathered Sunday at Mountain Home, Arkansas, to show support for an Arkansas National Guard company scheduled to leave Monday for the Middle East.
In Columbia, South Carolina, about 200 people gathered to protest war in Iraq at Martin Luther King Park. Around 100 demonstrators held candles and sang peace songs in front of the federal building in Davenport, Iowa.
