The turnout surpassed the wildest expectations of organizers of the
September 29th "Nonviolent March Against War on Iraq." It was a
beautiful sunny afternoon, and the crowd filled Dupont Circle to hear
speeches and music before marching up Massachusetts Avenue to the
residence of Vice President Cheney. Anticipating a crowd of
2,000, organizers were not sure whether police would allow the march
to proceed in the street or whether they would have to march on the
sidewalk.
Given the size of the crowd, police decided to shut down both lanes
and give the whole street to the crowd. Pausing briefly at key
embassies along the way: Turkey, Egypt, Japan and South Africa,
protesters cheered support for those countries who have so far held
firm in opposition to any US attack on Iraq. At the British
Embassy, protesters shouted "Shame, Shame!" to decry Prime Minister
Tony Blair's support for a US attack. An official of the British
Embassy agreed to meet with delegates from the crowd, who delivered a
letter from the group September Eleventh Families for Peaceful
Tomorrows, outlining why these families of the victims of 9-11 do not
support any attack on Iraq. The crowd gathered outside the gate
of the Naval Observatory, the DC residence of Vice President Dick
Cheney for final speakers and music. Wearing masks of Cheney,
Bush and Rumsfeld with the words "Axis of Oil" inscribed on their
foreheads, drummers beat the "drums of war": oil drums with the logos
of major US oil corporations on them. One of the chants of the
day was "Cheney is a dinosaur, we don't want your oil war!" The
National Network to End the War Against Iraq was one of a dozen
national organizations sponsoring the march. March organizers
estimated the size of the crowd at between 7,000 and 12,000.
Police estimates were put at 2,500, a figure that would hardly justify
shutting down all of Massachusetts Avenue.
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original event page.
