Students and Youth at Washington DC's "Crystal City", Saturday March 21, 2009

Youth and Students of ANSWER engaged in some lively chanting as the protest march reached its final destination on Crystal Drive.

Here are the basics of the event:

I attended the massive and powerful protest march in DC on Saturday, March 21 and took tons of photos and some videos, of which this is one. This was the first nationwide protest against the Obama Administration for its continuance of the destructive, unethical and horribly brutal policies of the Bush/Cheny era. This is the first shot across the bow telling Obama to stop the imperialist war machine or there will be many more, larger and larger protests, especially as the economy collapses and people find themsleves increasingly jobless and homeless while our money goes toward the destruction of other lands and peoples to the tune of billions of dollars.

This is from the Answer Coalition website:
http://answer.pephost.org/site/PageSe...

On Sixth Anniversary of Iraq war...
More than 10,000 march on Pentagon, leading war profiteers

A "throng of war protesters swelled Saturday as they marched across the Memorial Bridge." (AP) The protesters marched on the Pentagon and what followed was a dramatic direct action at Boeing, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and KBR, corporations that demonstrators labeled "merchants of death." The predominantly young crowd continued to grow as the day proceeded. They marched through the Pentagon north Parking Lot and then into downtown Crystal City, where the leading war corporations' headquarters are located.

The march was led by a contingent of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans. There was a significant delegation from members of the Arab and Muslim communities and many students participated.

The Arlington County Police mobilized in full riot gear in an attempt to block the demonstrators from delivering symbolic coffins at the doorsteps of the war corporations. They brought tear gas, snarling dogs and pointed guns loaded with rubber bullets directly at demonstrators. The Arlington County Police also put out an absurdly low count of the demonstration, which was more than 10,000 people.

In Los Angeles, a simultaneous demonstration drew 4,000 people, which culminated with a dramatic die-in at the Kodak Theater. Another 4,000 demonstrated in San Francisco, where police carried out violent attacks on demonstrators and arrested numerous people.

"This is the launch of the anti-war movement in the post-Bush era. Bush is gone, but the occupation of Iraq continues, the war in Afghanistan is escalating, and the people of Palestine are living under a state of siege," stated Brian Becker, National Coordinator of the ANSWER Coalition.