On the Road to Peace

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On the March
We roll into Washington at 10:30 AM Saturday and join the rally on the lawn south of the White House. Like the mood on the bus, the feeling on the streets of DC is remarkably more upbeat than at protests before the war started. Anger at the Bush administration and remorse over the loss of life on both sides is everywhere, to be sure. "What noble cause did my son die for?" says Cindy Sheehan, the Vacaville, CA, mother of slain soldier Casey Sheehan, whose encampment in Crawford, TX, drew national attention last summer and helped reinvigorate the antiwar movement. Images of fallen soldiers and Iraqi civilians are everywhere, and there is a large contingent of military families and Iraq war veterans. A lone woman holds a sign that reads, "Bring my son home now."

Inspired by Cindy Sheehan, angered by the botched federal response to Hurricane Katrina, and bolstered by recent polls showing a majority of Americans now oppose the war, there is a sense of impending victory here; unlike the resignation that reigned at prewar protests. Many of the signs, banners, and chants have switched from angry slogans to positive, even humorous ones, like "Make levees not war," and "God IM'ed [Instant Messaged] me. She said 'Peace not war.'" Many contingents in the march are dancing and singing. But the most common message, eleven words printed on signs everywhere, comes through loud and clear: "End the War on Iraq and Bring the Troops Home Now."

As the march snakes past the White House, Sam and I fall in with the CodePink contingent, easily 1,000 women dressed in hot pink and carrying pink balloons, led by several pink-clad cheerleaders. We stop in Lafayette Park, across Pennsylvania Avenue from the presidential mansion and watch as the march comes to a brief halt while Cindy Sheehan and Jesse Jackson attempt to approach the gates of the White House. The crowd chants "Jesse, Jesse," and "We love you, Cindy." This time, it's a photo op, but Sheehan and several hundred others would return to the same spot on Monday to be arrested in an act of nonviolent civil disobedience.

The march route loops through downtown and spills out onto the Mall, next to the Washington Monument, where Sheehan's group Gold Star Families for Peace has set up "Camp Casey East," a somber memorial with over 1,900 white crosses representing each of the fallen US soldiers. Many of the soldiers' relatives have placed their boots and dogtags there as well. Some include photos and obituaries of the deceased. Everywhere, teary-eyed demonstrators who, just a few blocks earlier, were chanting and railing loudly against the war, walk silently among the crosses.

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