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INTRO: The United States invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003. After 3 years and tens of thousands of deaths, Iraq has a new political system, frequent violence and an uncertain future. In America, opposition to the war has reached record highs, but there was no major antiwar protest to mark the war's third anniversary. Matt Hirshberg reports that antiwar activities were plentiful, but small.
NARR: Opposition to the war may be large, but protests marking the third anniversary were small. In Manhattan, there were a dozen events. More than a thousand people rallied in Times Square over the weekend,
and 200 attended a "town hall meeting" in a midtown auditorium Tuesday,
where they heard speeches about how the war has harmed people in the America.
Iraq War Veteran Geoffrey Millard's message was typical.
SOT (Millard): Our demand are very simple. First is to bring all troops home now. The second thing that we would like, is for all those veterans to be taken care of when they get home. We have members who are killing themselves because they can't deal with post-traumatic stress disorder and the VA isn't helping them.
NARR: The town hall meeting was organized by United for Peace and Justice, a coalition of over 12-hudred antiwar groups from around the country. Some of the group's events have attracted hundreds of thousands of protesters, most recently in Washington DC last September. The war's third anniversary might seem like an ideal opportunity to stage another big event, especially since antiwar opinion has been growing. But national coordinator Leslie Cagen said they decided to call for local, decentralized activities instead:
SOT (Cagen): Our latest count was 600 activities all over the country. Now it's true, not all those activities were massive. Some were quite small. But some also were in very small towns in the heartland.
NARR: Most of those protests around America were typical rallies, marches and vigils. Columbia University sociologist Todd Gitlin was a leader of the antiwar movement in the 60s. He says those events are old hat-they don't inspire people to participate, and they're not new or interesting enough to make a splash in the news like the anti-Vietnam demonstrations did. He sees today's antiwar movement as weak, its leaders lacking in creativity.
SOT (Gitlin): In the 60s, at a time when most of the country was still supporting the war, the antiwar movement was vigorous, growing, insurgent, experimental, full of energy, and there's some failure of imagination.
NARR: To be effective, Gitlin said a protest should be fresh-like the efforts by Cindy Sheehan to confront President Bush in Texas after her son was killed in Iraq.
SOT (Gitlin): She was a fresh face. She ignited a groundswell of feeling, and there was something to do, there were the vigils, but then, now she's already old news, and she's started sounding like a repeat of herself.
NARR: In a March 21st press conference, the President acknowledged that the war has not gone as expected, but he said he remained optimistic about the prospects for success.
Recent polls show only about a third of Americans share his optimism.
This is a big turnaround from early in the war, when two-thirds of Americans approved of the President's handling of it. After 3 years of war, two-thirds disapprove.
But surveys also show that two-thirds of Americans disagree with one of the antiwar movement's main mantras: That American troops should be brought home now.
Gitlin points out that many Americans who oppose the war are not convinced that withdrawal will improve things.
SOT: I don't think there's a clear feeling about what ought to be done because there is an appropriate feeling that whatever happens in Iraq now will be terrible."
NARR: It's hard to get motivated to protest if you're not clear what you want to happen. But United for Peace and Justice is still hoping for a big turnout at their next big march, which they're organizing for late April in New York.
I'm Matt Hirshberg, Columbia Radio News.