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Dozens on Green protest war, Bush

By Abbe Smith / New Haven Register

NEW HAVEN — The 75 people who gathered for a MoveOn.org-sponsored war protest and vigil on the Green Tuesday evening had two messages for passers-by: Support our troops, and bring them home now.

The protesters hoisted home-made antiwar signs into the air and held candles as one woman read the names of every American military member who has died since the United States invaded Iraq in 2003.

"We want our American soldiers back on American soil," said Anna Maria Mauhs, a local organizer for MoveOn.org.

Mauhs said the protesters wanted to send a clear message to Congress that if lawmakers do not "support the majority of Americans who want to end this war, they will be out of a job."

"We don’t support our president’s failed policies in the Middle East," she added.

The group gathered at College and Chapel streets and waved to passing cars, eliciting supportive honks from some. Two people held a rainbow flag with the word "Peace" written across it. Another couple held an American flag.

Neal Sweeney, a New Haven resident and member of the ANSWER Coalition, distributed fliers urging people to attend an antiwar march Sept. 15 in Washington, D.C.

"We want to support the momentum of the antiwar movement," he said.

Laine Harris, a Hamden resident and activist, said the message Tuesday night was not just to stop the war and bring the troops home, which he ardently supports, but to take care of the troops when they get here. He also offered some strong thoughts about the Bush administration.

"I would like to see the perpetrators of this war prosecuted in a world court," he said. "Impeachment alone is insufficient."

While polls show a majority of the country disapproves of the war in its current state, a significant amount of people stand strong behind the president and this year’s troop surge.

Melissa Weaver, an Iraq war veteran and spokeswoman for Connecticut’s chapter of the national Vets for Freedom, said in a phone interview Tuesday that now is not the time to drop everything and pull troops out of Iraq.

"We all definitely don’t want to be there forever, but it would be a much better tribute to our fallen soldiers to get the job done right and leave with our heads high," she said.

Weaver said Army Gen. David Petraeus is making progress on the ground in Iraq and should be given more time to get the job done. Vets for Freedom includes about 7,000 U.S. veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Justin Paglino, a Guilford resident who attended Tuesday’s protest, said he believes there is no hope that President Bush will change his mind and support bringing home the troops early, but he is hopeful that Congress can bring about change by funding a troop withdrawal.

"I feel like we owe it to the troops over there to make an effort to get out and do anything we can to get them home where they belong," he said.

Paglino was joined at the protest by his wife and his son, whom he named Dean after Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee and candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004. Dean, who lost the nomination to John Kerry, opposed invading Iraq from the beginning, Paglino said.

Mauhs said it is important to remember that people who oppose the war and support bringing the troops home are still patriotic citizens.

"We are Americans supporting a change in strategy. Not supporting the war as it is does not mean we are anti-American," she said.

About 3,730 U.S. forces have been killed so far in the Iraq war, according to the Department of Defense.