Anti-Iraq War Demonstrators Seek Momentum

March, 17, 2006 — -- When anti-war activists mark the third anniversary of the invasion of Iraq this weekend, their demonstrations will be aimed not at Washington but at communities across the country. Organizers hope this strategy will turn declining public support for the war into a grass roots movement to end U.S. involvement.

"This will allow people to participate directly without traveling, to be involved in the anti-war movement right where they live," said Brian Becker, spokesman for The Answer Coalition.

There will be one protest in Washington, D.C., outside Vice President Dick Cheney's house. But nothing in Washington will evoke memories of the mass gatherings at the White House, Pentagon and on The Mall during the Vietnam War.

There are many differences between the Iraq and Vietnam wars. One is the number of casualties three years into the conflict. By this time in the Vietnam War, casualties were more than five times the number of Americans killed so far in Iraq. And then there was the draft during the Vietnam War. Today, servicemen and women voluntarily serve in the military.

Though many polls that show that fewer than half of Americans support the conflict -- and more than half now believe the invasion of Iraq was a mistake -- the anti-war movement hasn't caught fire.

In fact, demonstrations since the conflict in Iraq began are smaller than those which preceded the war. In Seattle, 3,000 people once formed a human chain encircling Green Lake, about three miles in circumference. Today, demonstrators aren't numbered even in the hundreds.

"Part of the reason that Americans are ambivalent is they still feel it's important to get the war right, and don't want to completely withdraw support," Eric Larson, senior policy analyst for the RAND Corp.

Free Republic, a conservative organization that supports the war, is mounting counterdemonstrations in several places this weekend.

"When you make a commitment to a foreign country like Iraq, you need to keep it" said Free Republic spokesman Kristinn Taylor. "If you don't, you'll sentence the Iraqi people to a living hell."