Today, around 75 protestors (video) gathered outside the Gerald R. Ford Museum to tell Vice President Dick Cheney that they support an immediate end to the United States' occupation of Iraq.

The protest, organized by the Grand Rapids antiwar group ACTIVATE/SDS, began at Rosa Parks Circle. Shortly after 10:00am, the group--led by a banner reading "US Out of Iraq"--marched to the Gerald R. Ford Museum to attempt to let Cheney know that they support an immediate end to the war. The group was able to get surprisingly close to site of Cheney's speech--being stopped by police only fifteen feet from the Museum's front door. Throughout the protest the protestors chanted "Cheney Out of Grand Rapids, US Out of Iraq," "No Justice, No Peace, US Out of the Middle East," and "War and Occupation does not bring Liberation." The protestors made use of whistles and noisemakers to accompany their chanting in an effort to make themselves heard. After being moved from the Museum's property (essentially twenty-five feet), the protestors continued to chant and wave signs before half of the crowd marched to the intersection of Michigan and Monroe where they waited until Cheney's motorcade passed them on its way out of town.

During the protest, ACTIVATE/SDS distributed flyers explaining its stance on the occupation of Iraq. The group calls for an immediate withdrawal of all United States military personal and private contractors. In addition, ACTIVATE demands that the United States pay reparations to Iraq for the damage done to Iraq during the most recent invasion and occupation as well as damages incurred during the twelve years of sanctions. The group frames its opposition in terms of the costs of the war, both in terms of the human costs--more than 655,000+ Iraqis civilians killed--as well as the cost of the war at home, which is estimated to have cost the City of Grand Rapids $236 million in lost revenue. The group further argues that the majority of Iraqis support an immediate withdrawal of US troops from Iraq. A recent BBC/ABC poll found that 47% of Iraqis support an immediate withdrawal.

The group also promoted its "End the Occupation" rally that it is holding tomorrow at Rosa Parks Circle at noon. That rally's focus is to tell area legislators--Representative Vern Ehlers and Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow--that they should stop funding the occupation of Iraq.

In his Grand Rapids speech, Cheney echoed President Bush's comments last night, arguing that there has been progress in Iraq, stating that "conditions in Iraq are changing for the better and we are seizing the initiative from the enemy." He claimed that the United States will turn events in Iraq "into victory" and warned that if the United States withdraws from Iraq there will be "chaos" in the Middle East. Like President Bush, Cheney emphasized that the United States' presence in Iraq will be a "long term commitment." The comments by both the President and the Vice President underscore the fact that the recent talk of removing a small number of troops from Iraq will leave a substantial occupying force in the country and that the United States has no intention of "withdrawing" from Iraq.