WP: For Many, Anger Has Grown Since Start of War

For Many, Anger Has Grown Since Start of War

By Carol Morello
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 25, 2005; Page A12

John McNamara never believed the 2003 invasion of Iraq was justified, but as a soldier in an Army transportation unit, he dutifully took part in a war he did not support.

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"Being part of something I didn't agree with didn't sit well in my stomach," said McNamara, 25, of Boston, carrying one corner of a banner for a small, fledgling group called Iraq Veterans Against the War. "Joining this protest, it is the only way I can help end it. It feels good."

Like McNamara, many marching in Washington's streets yesterday have opposed the war in Iraq from the beginning. The protest drew a broad cross section of young and old, veteran activists and first-timers. But of more than 50 marchers interviewed, nearly all said their convictions deepened, not changed, as the war progressed. What they shared was the belief that their suspicions about President Bush and the war had been right all along.

So there was a quiet, often angry determination in the crowd, with little of the jovial street theater that marks much political protest. Most placards did not simply call to bring troops home. At turns they labeled Bush a liar, a traitor, a fascist, a coward and a war criminal worthy of impeachment. Some asked plaintively, "Where's the outrage?"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/24/AR2005092401615.html