MichaelMoore.com

Iraq war protesters target Democrats

By Jo Mannies / St. Louis Post-Dispatch

For the past three weeks, waves of anti-war protests, sit-ins and arrests have become almost routine for Rep. Russ Carnahan's district office in Brentwood.

And the local band of activists behind the disturbances is just getting warmed up. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., appears to be their next target — on Tuesday, the group launched a sit-in at her downtown office. Four were arrested, released and fined $75 apiece.

The demonstrations are part of a national eight-week campaign, called The Occupation Project-, that has been organized by a coalition of anti-war groups out to cut off funding for the Iraq war.

But instead of picketing officials who support the war, the protesters primarily are targeting Democratic members of Congress seen as most sympathetic to their cause.

"We want to move people who are against the war to a position where they will cut the funding off," said local anti-war protester Bill Ramsey.

Nationally, their targets have included Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., although he opposed the Iraq war before it began. Earlier this month, four anti-war protesters with the same coalition were arrested at his Chicago district office. Four others were arrested at the Chicago office of Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.

"At least we're in good company," Carnahan spokesman Glenn Campbell said wryly. "It's hard for us to figure out why we're the target. We're more in tune with them than many other members."

Said McCaskill during an interview before Tuesday's sit-in: "I admire their passion; I admire them using any peaceful means at their disposal to make their point. But I think they're targeting the wrong people."

The protesters say they are singling out Carnahan and McCaskill, in part, because each sits on congressional committees dealing with the war. Carnahan is on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, while McCaskill sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Both are critical of the Iraq war, but Carnahan and McCaskill also maintain that they don't want to take any action that would harm U.S. troops in Iraq. For that reason, both have told the protesters that they won't vote to cut off funding for the war.

That's not what the anti-war activists want to hear.

"Every day our soldiers remain in Iraq, two or three more die," said Betsy Reznicek of St. Louis, a protester with Veterans for Peace.

Veterans for Peace is among several groups organizing the local protests, along with the Instead of War Coalition and the Center for Theology and Social Analysis.

Ramsey, a well-known local protester going back to the Vietnam War, acknowledges that the number of local anti-war activists willing to participate in the protests amounts to only a few dozen.

Fewer still agree to be arrested. It often falls to Ramsey to bail them out every night — in part, because they're needed for the next demonstration.

But what they lack in numbers, Ramsey said, they make up in tenacity.

Tuesday afternoon, about a dozen protesters unfurled anti-Iraq war banners outside the Robert A. Young federal building downtown, which is temporarily housing McCaskill's local office.

Inside, five of the protesters met with McCaskill to make their case. Afterward, four began a sit-in.

That's the same approach they used a couple of weeks ago at Carnahan's office. The protesters met with the congressman and his staff. He rejected their request that he oppose any more spending in Iraq. Then the sit-ins began.

At first, the almost daily protests were amiable. Carnahan's staff set aside a conference room for the protesters to congregate.

But tension rose as the protesters' ramped up their tactics. They refused to leave Carnahan's office when it closed at 5 p.m. and began using chimes and chants.

That's when Carnahan's staff began calling police. As of Friday, 22 anti-war protesters have been arrested and charged with trespassing. Another wave of protests is expected today.

"We're sympathetic to their point of view," Campbell said. "But a congressional office can't be under siege."

But protester Dianne Lee disagrees. She was among those conducting the sit-in Tuesday in McCaskill's office. Last week, Lee spent 14 hours in a sit-in at Carnahan's.

While not eager to be arrested, Lee said, "We're here to do what we feel is necessary to bring this war to conclusion. The future of America is at stake."