"Power to the Peaceful," said a traveler with his fist in the air, emerging from a Sun Valley Express bus at the Utah Capitol Saturday morning. The traveler had hopped on the "Peace Bus" at 5:30 a.m. in Hailey to join more than 40 Wood River Valley protestors opposed to the U.S.-led war in Iraq.
Busloads from Hailey and Boise joined the Idaho Peace Coalition and the Boise Chapter of Veterans for Peace to exercise their right to freedom of speech by joining United for Peace & Justice, a coalition of more than 1,300 groups in a coordination of 11 rallies across the country the same day.
Not as numerous as the protestors in other cities such as San Francisco, Chicago and Boston, more than 1,000 anti-war protestors gathered at the Capitol in Salt Lake City to represent the Intermountain West.
"We want to end this war. It's been going on long enough," said Dwight Scarbrough, head of the Boise chapter of Veterans for Peace. "(The U.S.) has a long history of interventions. We need to stop funding this war and break the cycle of endless violence."
Bus ride organizer and Hailey resident Amy Bingham directed the bus to Apricot Street to meet fellow peaceniks from Boise. "We'll know we're there when things look a little fruity," she joked, but she was serious about the collective message shared with citizens who also protested in Seattle, Los Angeles, New York and Orlando.
The marchers gathered by the reflecting pond behind the Capitol building for morning speeches and blessings of peace. Protestors carried festive hand-painted banners and signs for the march down State Street to Washington Square for a rally headlined by Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, an ardent opponent of the U.S.-led war in Iraq.
"You have helped lead our nation to the brink of fascism," Anderson said, berating President George W. Bush throughout his lengthy speech. But, he also blamed citizens who were ambivalent about the war and the mainstream media for failing to inform the public.
Slogans like "No More Wars," "Bring the Troops Home Now" and "Iraq is Arabic for Vietnam" matched chants like "What do we want? Peace. When do we want it? Now," and "Invest in the poor, not the war."
Another bus rider from the Idaho contingent slung a headstone made like a sandwich board around her neck that read "19 New Hampshire"—the number of dead U.S. soldiers from the Iraq war from the "Live Free or Die" state.
Other tombstones carried by members of the Idaho Peace Coalition marked the numbers of dead from other states and one listing the total number of U.S. soldiers killed, 3,838, and wounded, 28,276, as of Friday night.
"This is a great occasion, all based on peace," said World War II veteran Doug Christensen, of the northern Wood River Valley. "It's what we desperately need. It's hard to be kind these days. The question of learning to be kind to each other has gone away since 9/11 under this administration. We have been taught to be frightened and suspicious of one another."
A group of Idaho protestors, who called themselves "Potatoes for Peace," sang brightly, bringing some levity and hope to the march.
"It's pretty clear that pre-emptive war is forbidden in Mormon scripture," said Will Vanwagenen, a Salt Lake City Mormon, who attended the protest to share his experiences working with Christian volunteers in Iraq to help Iraqis locate family members who have been detained. "I did get a chance to see a lot of problems first hand. Things were quite terrible under Saddam. People suffered under U.S. and U.K. sanctions. The Iraqi people were pinned between those things. Things have gotten worse. It's pretty clear that Iraqis don't want the U.S. there."
The many anti-war speakers at the rally shared Vanwagenen's sentiment at the end of the march. But, speakers like Anderson and U.S. Marine Corps veteran Jeff Key, who served in Iraq and opened the rally by playing "Taps," said it is essential to world peace for people to make their voices heard and speak out.
Representing Idaho and the Intermountain West, ?Idahoans for Peace? descended on Salt Lake City to participate in one of the 11 peace rallies held around the nation last weekend. Members of the Idaho contingent carried headstones in honor of those who have died during the war in Iraq. Photo by Matt Furber
