On 5th anniversary of U.S. invasion, South Bay demands end to Iraq war (grannies, labor, & photos)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/04/03/18490325.php

Citizens of Santa Clara County protested five years of war in Iraq with a series of events spanning an entire week.



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The shoes of soldiers, civilian men, women, and children were laid out on the footpath in front of the Dr. Martin Luther King Library in downtown San Jose. They symbolized the thousands of U.S. and Iraqi troops and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians killed so far in the war in Iraq.

Some 200 people had gathered on Wednesday afternoon, March 19th, 2008 to speak out against five years of war in Iraq. It is now the third longest war in U.S. history, after the Vietnam war and the current war in Afghanistan.

Iraq war veteran, Jesse Johnsen, of Santa Cruz condemned the lies and deceptions that were told to him by his commanders in Iraq. He said that the combat training he received deliberately dehumanized Iraqi civilians in order to make it easier for U.S. troops to kill. He was told to act first and then ask questions later.

Johnsen served two tours of duty in Iraq while in the U.S. Marine Corps. He said that he began to realize the deceptions of the war during his second tour of duty in Iraq. He recalled that most of the marines he served with were afraid to talk openly about what they thought, but they all just wanted to get out of Iraq and go home.

A dozen members of the labor union Unite Here! came as group in support of fellow member Ana Diaz whose son was sent to Iraq. According to Diaz, military recruiters falsely promised that her son would not be going to war. Now, she wants her son and all U.S. troops back home.

FULL story and more photos at link.

[patrice]

1. Give Iraq back to Iraqis!

We are not McCheney's private-War Slaves!

NGU!