Protesters begin to gather

Students participate in a "die-in" Saturday afternoon in memory of the El Mozote massacre. Photo/Mike Haskey. 11/17/07


Protesters begin to gather
BY MICK WALSH - mwalsh@ledger-enquirer.com


The intention of the dozen protesters in 1990 was as clear as Saturday's sky: "Close down the School of the Americas," they cried.

Though the call still resonates up and down Benning Boulevard, in the shadow of the main gate to Fort Benning, it is hardly the only demand being screamed by the thousands who find their way here each November.

"End the War," "Impeach Bush," "Stop Blackwater" and "Don't Forget Darfur" are not only bumper stickers, but the impetus that drove protesters here from California to Maine.

The SOA Watch movement still targets the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation for immediate closure. Organizers admit that's not likely until a new president, make that a Democratic president, is elected. But the students, clergy, veterans and retirees that make up the majority of the crowd are as likely to want the war in Iraq ended as they are for the closing down of the institute.

"I'm not surprised that it has evolved into an anti-war demonstration," said Jim Sorter of Arcadia, Calif., president of one of the largest chapters of Veterans Against the War in the United States. "Vets have seen the horrors of war. I'd say the average citizen is against this war; I know we are."

While it certainly may not get national media attention, this weekend's event might just be one of the country's largest anti-war protests.


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