In addition to the protest in Grand Rapids this weekend, protests took place in over 800 cities in the United States. While it is impossible to gauge the numbers of people involved, reports posted on the Indymedia.us March 19 round-up indicate that thousands participated in some of the largest antiwar protests to occur since the first anniversary of the invasion (photo round-up).
The majority of the protests over the weekend were symbolic and are indicative of the ongoing challenges faced by an antiwar movement that has been able to affect United States' foreign policy. Over the past three years, symbolic protest, well-reasoned speeches, and small-scale civil disobedience have been unable to stop the war. However, there are signs that the protests are part of a revival of the antiwar movement, a movement that was silent during 2004 in response to the election and the uncertainty surrounding John Kerry's candidacy. Some of the more notable protests, such as the one in Fayetteville, North Carolina and the protest in New York City reflected the turn towards long-term organizing efforts among some segments of the antiwar movement to organize among military families and to do direct action organizing against military recruiting. The Fayetteville rally outside of Fort Bragg, a military base through which the majority of troops headed to Iraq pass, was the largest protest at a military base since Vietnam and reflected the changing public attitude toward the war, with recent polls indicating that 56% of US citizens wanting the US out of Iraq within a year and 47% wanting an immediate withdrawal. The New York City action, in which a few hundred protestors shutdown a recruiting office and blocked traffic on Broadway, is representative of a variety of anti-recruiting actions and organizing efforts that are taking place throughout the country. It is the long-term organizing efforts combined with strategic direct actions, not the occasional symbolic protest, that have the best chance of ending the occupation and it is important for activists and organizers to start making plans accordingly.
In order to place the protests in the proper context, it is important to look at events over the past week in Iraq (photos) . The occupation, while always illegal, continues to harm ordinary Iraqis while benefiting the United States and despite news of widespread abuses and promises of "change," the occupation continues to be conducted in an absolutely abhorrent manner. Moreover, this past week, the military announced that US troops will remain in Iraq until between 2006 and 2008.
