U.S. protests shrink while antiwar sentiment grows

[defendandprotect]

U.S. protests shrink while antiwar sentiment grows By Andy Sullivan
Wed Oct 3, 8:33 AM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Crowds at antiwar rallies in Washington have dwindled even as U.S. opinion has turned against the war in Iraq, as organizers feud and participants question the effectiveness of the street protests.

Rival antiwar groups, which in years past jointly sponsored massive rallies on the National Mall, have promoted separate protests recently or decided to steer clear of the capital altogether.

The thinning crowds stand in contrast to the antiwar protests of the Vietnam era, which grew as the war progressed.

Activists and experts say divisions among peace groups, along with other factors like the lack of a draft, fatigue about the war and the rise of the Internet, have all contributed to the declining turnout.

Sparse turnout -- fewer than 1,000 at a rally on Saturday, according to local media reports -- could undermine the goal of forcing an end to U.S. involvement in Iraq, participants say.

"When you have demonstrations in which the turnout is not terribly impressive, that gives politicians the sense that people may oppose the war but nobody's really going to pay a price," said Peter Kuznik, an American University history professor and antiwar protester.

Antiwar rallies drew hundreds of thousands of people at the war's start in 2003, although only 23 percent of Americans then said the invasion was a mistake, according to a USA Today/Gallup Poll. That figure is now 58 percent.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071003/ts_nm/usa_iraq_protests_dc

[defendandprotect]

1. Mixed feelings about this ---

First -- I agree, there needs to be some other way to protest than to go to Washington, DC --

Second -- lack of media attention is very harmful -- paying off for Bush --
I think when people are confronted every day with protests and they see people just like them out there they are more inclined to join the protests. MSM still has the leverage in that regard.
But -- then again, I'm not tuning in to MSM so that I know via the internet what's happening.
Others may not???

Third -- Whether anti-war or whether complaining about what the Democratic leadership is doing . . .
I think too many people think that sitting at the computer and posting is going to make a big difference. I don't think it will --

We can get together here to decide on actions -- but there have to be "ACTIONS" .....

Our problems are with corporate-America -- an inhumane and fascist place to live -- which has destroyed nature to the point of Global Warming which is threatening not only our species but the planet itself.

I'd like to see some threads that center more on WHAT TO DO rather than simply threads agreeing with how wrong the Dem leadership is -- I agree they're wrong -- BUT . . .

WHAT ARE WE GOING TO ACTUALLY DO ABOUT IT --???

[NOLALady]

2. The people divided

will always be defeated.

[Rene]

3. folks are out here that would definitely like to get to a rally but cannot

....but still where is the outrage? I think everyone's VERY weary that this s--- has gone on for these 6 years and NOTHING has happened to stop the * admin.

Everyone at a rally should wear a face scarf and avoid getting close up pictures taken.

[fasttense]

4. How the hell would Reuters know?

They rarely cover the protests and when they do, they underestimate the attendance. Just add this article to your lies and damn lies files.

I just went to anti-war protest a couple of weeks ago in Johnson City, TN, a small town on the border of TN and Virginia. We had 213 people, this was the biggest march or protest in that city, of any kind, since the Vietnam war. Did anyone cover it? Not a single television or news show mentioned it. So how the hell would Reuters know when most of the protests are not even covered?

[FtWayneBlue]

5. I was there Saturday

for the march and rally. No, it wasn't huge like the Sept 25 2005 one was, but there were definitely more than 1,000 people in it!

Sometimes I get a little discouraged about the way many of the peace organizations bicker and refuse to work together, but I still go get out in the streets every chance I get.

UFPJ is calling for regional marches this month.

Since this will allow everyone an opportunity to go to an anti-war demonstration closeby -

COME ONE, COME ALL - SHUT DOWN THE WAR THIS FALL!

[HeraldSquare212]

6. Wearing yellow every Friday?

I thought there was some kind of organized protest developing where people would wear yellow every Friday? Something along those lines seems a good idea. It would easily show the numbers, and it allows people to do it without being too in-your-face about it, which some might prefer to avoid.

[defendandprotect]

8. It was orange -- kind of a small scarf you could wear anywhere -- ????

Now, orange bracelets --

[Puregonzo1188]

7. There's some truth in the article and a lot of BS.

First, the ANSWER rally two weeks ago was more than 10,000, as a matter of fact based on the fact that PA Ave was filled for 10 blocks one would conclude there was in fact 100,000 people there. However, several other antiwar rallies are grossly underestimated (100,000 in January? CSPAN, based on aerial photography, said there was 300,000-600,000). This wouldn't be so bad if they consistently underestimated antiwar rally attendance, but they actually for the first time ACCURATELY ESTIMATE the early prewar rallies attendance (100s of thousands in 2003). This is so fucking absurd. Can anyone find the original Reuters articles on these rallies and see what they said attendance was?

The TONC rally is the first national antiwar rally in DC I haven't been to since I started protesting the war in '05 (DC is local for me) so I can't give a firsthand account, but I was under the impressive it was much, much smaller than any of the ANSWER or UFPJ rallies.

The part about the divided antiwar movement and the history of ANSWER/TONC is true, so it's not an entirely bad article

[defendandprotect]

9. Well, it's always driven me nuts that ALL progressive groups don't come together ---

and I mean like feminists and labor unions --

And, it's been frightening that so many of these groups would unquestionably support Democrats without challenging them at all re corporate ties, $, rising fascism . . . .

There's nothing wrong with going to Washington, DC --

I loved it when we had anti-war demonstrations in my town every week!!!
This was pre-Iraq . . . as soon as they attacked . .. everything stopped!!!

There are so many ways to do this . . .
for instance we have kind of corporate-sponsored stuff going on in our town regularly during the summer -- that would have been great to ensure that opposition to the war was widespread.

Sen. Lautenberg wrote a letter to the editor of our town paper -- "Enough Is Enough" --
and I responded with "impeach" . . . so the ice is broken -- but I think the Editor was feeling now is the time.

Too, a lot of this stuff comes out of some of the churches here and I don't want to get involved in that ---

I have to try harder -- you feel so much better when you are out there -- !!!