Protests Mark Second Anniversary Of Iraq War

ny1.com
Protests Mark Second Anniversary Of Iraq War
MARCH 20TH, 2005

Protests around the city Saturday marked the second anniversary of the start of the Iraq war.

Anti-war demonstrators started out in Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem Saturday morning, before marching down to Central Park for a rally.

Local politicians addressed the crowd from a stage set up in Central Park's East Meadow, telling supporters that it's time for the president to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq.

"It's one thing to go to war; it's another thing to mislead the American people," Representative Charles Rangel told the crowd.

"If those who made the decision to go to war had been in combat, if they thought their kids were going, or their grandkids were going, there would never have been a war in Iraq," said Rangel, a Korean War veteran.

"We don't want to spend any more money for war," said Brooklyn city councilmember Charles Barron. "We need money for jobs; we need money for housing; we need money for our youth; we need money to pave our streets; we need money to educate our children; and we need to build a new world a world without Bush."

Demonstrators wrapped up the day by marching to Mayor Bloomberg's Upper East Side townhouse for a final protest of the day.

Another anti-war protest was held in Brooklyn, and more than two dozen people were arrested for protesting the war in Times Square.

The group had marched to Times Square from 47th Street and First Avenue carrying flag-draped coffins. Once there they lay down next to the coffins in front of the armed forces recruitment center on Broadway.