by
Humphreys
Protest
INTRO (:25) This week Senate Republicans and Democrats tried to agree on how to oppose the President's war policy in Iraq. Next week, the House plans to debate war policy and a troop surge. This increasing upheaval is what one group has been working toward for years. It is United for Peace and Justice- a New York City based coalition that staged a protest in Washington last month starring Jane Fonda.
Reporter Aileen Humphreys visits the group's headquarters in a Garment District loft.
NARR1 (:15) Volunteers are fielding angry calls from a small table at the front of the group's bare, light-filled office space. Volunteer Ted OW-er-back has taken multiple calls from a man who disagrees with the group's politics.
ACT1 (TED:19): I'm going to report you to the police...yes,
next time you call, I'm going to report you to the police. We
have other things to do- this is harassment. I've been very
patient with you. And I'm telling you right now, do you
understand? The next time you call I am going to report
you to the police.
NARR2 (:37) Han-EE KA-leel is the group's spokesman. More than 1,400 anti-war groups fall under his umbrella, including Iraq Veterans Against the War and Military Families Speak Out. KA-leel pushes anti-war statistics on behalf of all of them and he says 500,000 people attended the Washington rally. Media reports say the D.C. police unofficially put the number at under 100,000. KA-leel says the protest was staged in Washington to underscore the new Democratic majority in Congress. KA-leel now wants those Democrats to cease funding the war- an unlikely political reality.
ACT2 (Hany:16) They have the ability to fund this war, or
not fund it. If they don't fund this war, if the money's there
to not pay for soldier's salaries and to pay for equipment
and military arms and so on, this war can't go on.
NARR3 (:7) United for Peace is also teaching parents how to remove their children's names from school records available to military recruiters.
ACT3 (Hany:6) Make it harder, therefore, for the military to
have enough soldiers to be able to prosecute the war.
NARR4 (:8) Despite this tactic to reduce troop numbers, KA-leel and volunteers say they are supportive of current soldiers and of veterans.
ACT4 (Jessie:12) Some of the calls we've gotten, "You hate
the troops," you know? That's not true. It's the furthest
thing from the truth, because we want the troops home
and to end this disaster.
NARR5 (:34) That's Jessie KAY-gan, a long-time peace activist whose husband fought in WWII. KAY-gan's daughter opposes the war, also- she is the national leader for United for Peace and Justice. As I leave the office, KAY-gan's daughter is busy sorting bright yellow security vests from the rally. The group is planning to stage more events in New York next month to mark the war's fourth anniversary.
SOC (:3) Aileen Humphreys, Columbia Radio News.