STOP THE WAR ON IRAQ
ALL TROOPS OUT NOW!

On Saturday, September 24th, U.S. Citizens for Peace and Justice –Rome staged a protest rally across from the U.S. Embassy on Via Veneto. We demanded the end of the war against Iraq and the bringing home of all troops, leaving no bases behind. Our rally was held simultaneously with protests in Washington, D.C., Seattle, San Francisco…as well as in major cities around the world: London, Paris, Madrid, Dublin, Florence…

With the assistance and support of several Italian peace and justice groups, we were able to assemble over 300 people.

Our numbers were significant enough to attract the attention of the media. Both the Italian press (La Repubblica, Corriere della Sera, Il Messaggero…) and the international press (Associated Press) of our featured stories about the Rome event in their Sunday editions. There were interviews with the press given by representatives group that later appeared on SkyNews as well as a shot on the Italian national news.

The rally was enlivened with banners, signs, posters, a unique antenna headpiece calling attention to a laptop computer with coverage of the march in D.C., a drummer and honks of support from cars passing by.

We read a letter in both English and Italian that had been written to the U.S. Ambassador to Rome, Mr. Ronald Spogli. A Massachusetts couple, celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary with a trip to Italy and not wanting to miss the protest at home, found our event on the web and joined the effort, reading a statement of concerns. A parody on the multicolored terrorist threat warning system developed by Homeland Security was performed and well received. We presented the “Top Ten Worst Quotes” by the Bush administration in both English and Italian, which drew a reaction from the crowd.

In the most solemn moment of the afternoon, bouquets of flowers were laid in the front of the U.S. Embassy on via Veneto, to commemorate all those who have died as a result of this illegal and immoral military action. They remained in place the following week for pedestrians to read the messages on the cards.

We want to thank everyone who participated in this event and to add a special thanks to all who helped to organize it. We feel confident that we got our message heard on that day but we also know that our efforts need to continue.

Kathy Ford

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