Fifth anniversary of war protested across the country

Houston WW photo: Gloria Rubac

As the fifth anniversary of the criminal U.S. occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan neared, tens of thousands hit the streets on Mar. 15 calling for an end to the war. In Los Angeles marchers targeted CNN at the corner of Sunset and Cahuenga chanting, “CNN, can’t you see? Put the peace march on TV!”

In Atlanta, 10 women from Grandmothers for Peace were arrested for showing up at a recruiting center and attempting to enlist.

San Diego WW photo: Gloria Verdieu

Cristóbal Hinojosa, with Mexicanos en Acción, spoke at a militant anti-war rally in Houston. He blasted the U.S. government for five years of war in Iraq, which has taken the money so desperately needed by working people in this country and murdered Iraqi people. “With the war on Iraq in the Middle East and a war on immigrants in this country, this government is not working in our interest,” Hinojosa said. “We need to get out of Iraq now!” The rally was sponsored by the Progressive Workers Organizing Committee and endorsed by Troops Out Now Coalition, Latin American Organization for Immigrant Rights, Houston Peace and Justice Center, International Socialist Organization, Justice for Palestinians, Progressive Action Alliance, the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement and the local Green Party.

Los Angeles WW photo: J. La Riva

Anti-war protesters numbering around 500 marched through an oppressed community in central San Diego. Speakers at the rally demanded that the billions being spent on war be used instead to address human needs like health care, housing and the education budget crisis currently deepening in California. The International Action Center banner carried in the protest read, “End Colonial Occupation From Iraq to Palestine and Everywhere!”

Los Angeles WW photo: Bob McCubbin

The Michigan Emergency Committee Against War and Injustice sponsored a demonstration in downtown Detroit, demanding troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, money for cities not for war, stop the war on Palestine, end the siege of Gaza, and U.S. hands off Iran. MECAWI anti-war organizers were joined by Palestinian and Arab activists, Green Party members, youth from Lansing fighting foreclosures and evictions, members of the Michigan Coalition for Human Rights, students from Detroit’s Cass Tech High School and others. Demonstrations also took place in Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids, Mich.

In Europe, protestors marched in Glasgow, London, Stockholm, Oslo and many other cities. In Canada, where the parliament extended that country’s military commitment to the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan, demonstrators took to the streets in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.

Cheryl LaBash, Dianne Mathiowetz, Alan Pollock, Gloria Rubac and Gloria Verdieu contributed to this report.