By Katie Hudson-Martinez/feature editor
“Impeach Bush” was the battle cry of the crowd of anti-war protesters who assembled in front of the GOP straw poll in downtown Fort Worth Saturday.
The event drew people from across Texas with diverse backgrounds, education and race, but with one thing in common—a desire to end the war in Iraq.
Who Was There
Speakers at the event included retired U.S. Army Col. Ann Wright, who was one of the first military officers to resign in protest of the Iraq war and other foreign policy issues with the Bush administration, as well as
Cindy Sheehan and Carlos Arrendondo, both activist parents whose sons died in Iraq in 2004.
Sheehan, on her first trip back to Texas since announcing her intent to run for public office, said she was pleased by the turnout and the energy of the crowd.
“ We would like to have more, you know, but we are happy to see all these people who came out to show their support,” she said.
The protest fell short of its aspiration to have more than a thousand bodies, drawing around 400-500 people, which many protesters blamed on the lack of media coverage leading up to the event.
Media Blackout
The major local broadcast outlets gave no mention of the upcoming event, and Star-Telegram articles about the event mentioned the protest only at the end of long stories written about the straw poll.
“ I am disappointed, but not surprised,” said Jeph Abara, adjunct mathematics instructor on SE Campus who attended the protest.
“ The media has really let us down throughout this entire war—picking and choosing what they wish to report. It’s almost never the whole truth.”
Protesting the Protesters
The other side of the issue was also represented by a dozen or more pro-Bush picketers with signs reading “We Support our Troops and our President” and “Cindy Sheehan is a disgrace to her son.”
One of the Bush supporters, a Vietnam veteran, told Channel 11 news the anti-war crowd had a “complete lack of knowledge.”
An anti-war protester responded, “I don’t understand how someone who has been to war and knows what it really is would wish this on our children and the innocent people in Iraq.”
Both sides waved American flags.
Brought to you in part by …
The anti-war protest was sponsored and endorsed by many different organizations, including Texans for Peace, Dallas Peace Center, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Veterans for Peace, Crawford Peace House, Military Families Speak Out, Gold Star Families for Peace, Code Pink Women for Peace, Peace Action Texas, Peace and Justice Center—Arlington and Vietnam Veterans Against the War.
