It was the 12th anniversary of Shock & Awe, the U. S. attack on Iraq on Saturday the 21st of March but, it’s been 24 years since the U.S. has been dropping bombs on the country of Iraq. When Obama came into office he promised to end the war in Iraq and now he’s asking Congress to expand it. The pretext for bombing Iraq in 1990 was Kuwait, then it was Saddam Hussein’s Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) that cause millions of Iraqis to die from lack of medical care and food, which turned out to be complete hogwash. In 2003 it was the “attack” of 911, Bush & Cheney said we had to “keep America safe” from “terrorists”. Now, it’s: “We have to stop ISIL”.

The only reason ISIL exists is due to the fact that the U.S has been bombing the country of Iraq for the past 24 years, says Brian Becker speaking in front of the White House on a sunny, warm spring day in front of a few hundred demonstrators. Dropping More bombs is not going to put an end to ISIL,, the U.S. needs to “get the Hell out of Iraq”. Allow Iraq to be self determining and leave the people alone and let the Iraqi people do what they’ve done for thousands of years and control their own destiny. The Iraqi people need Rumsfeld, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, and Powell to be held accountable for their crimes, arrested, prosecuted and imprisoned for their crimes in Iraq and elsewhere. “That’s what we are demanding today.”

Brian Becker concluded by asking demonstrators to pick up a makeshift Coffin, cardboard boxes covered with Iraqi flags that were taken along the march route and left and various stops along the way.

Brian Becker is a co-director of the International Action Center (IAC), a steering-committee member of International ANSWER, and a former member of the Secretariat of the Marxist-Leninist Workers World Party (WWP). He was also a contributor to the WWP newspaper, Workers World. Through his association with these organizations, Becker became a prominent figure in the anti-war movement’s massive post-9/11 peace rallies.

Spring Rising was put together by Anti War activist, Cindy Lee Miller Sheehan, an American antiwar activist whose son, U.S. Army Specialist Casey Sheehan, was killed by enemy action during the Iraq War. She attracted national and international media attention in August 2005 for her extended antiwar protest at a makeshift camp outside President George W. Bush’s Texas ranch—a stand that drew both passionate support and angry criticism. Sheehan ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2008. She is a vocal critic of President Barack Obama’s foreign policy. Her memoir, Peace Mom: A Mother’s Journey Through Heartache to Activism, was published in 2006. – Wikipedia

Cindy Sheehan’s talk was unapologizing and straight up, calling the “white” house the Whore house except for “apologizing to all the Sex workers out there” for the bad association. Cindy reiterated what was said by Brain Becker that “the U.S. has been bombing Iraq for 4 administrations” and now they want to bomb Iraq More, creating “more violence and more destabilization”. “You can’t Bomb people into submission”. Cindy asked the crowd, “Who’s worried about Venezuela?” whether or not people stayed awake late at night working about being attacked by Venezuela. Capitalism has to worry about Venezuela setting a good example of what a Democratic country looks like.

“We can’t be pro Democrat and Pro Peace”. “Do you need any more proof that Barack Obama is a Sociopathic War Criminal?” “is there anything else he needs to do to prove that?”

Spring Rising comprised a number of events including a large rally and march, teach-ins, and lobbying. The goal was to increase opposition to wars and militarism, and in particular to U.S. military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, as well as all U.S. drone attacks and surveillance worldwide. Spring Rising advocates the closure of U.S. military bases overseas, and the dismantling of the U.S. nuclear arsenal. We urge the demilitarization of police forces and a halt to their targeting of minority communities. The event sought to increase understanding of and resistance to U.S. military operations’ acceleration of climate chaos.​

All photos by Catherine Watters: