Chicago, IL – A noisy crowd of protesters, with banners demanding, “No to war and occupation,” marched here, Mar. 19.

Over 3000 gathered in Federal Plaza at 2:00 p.m. to hear speeches by Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney of Georgia and a marine that refused orders to go to Iraq, among others. They were marking the second anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.

Hundreds of anti-warriors arrived in a feeder march that had been swelling for hours. A Palestine solidarity feeder rallied at the Israeli consulate, anti-military recruitment activists had protested the “Army of One” recruitment campaign at the world headquarters of the Leo Burnett ad agency and others marched from the corporate offices of Boeing, one of the main suppliers of aircraft to the U.S. military. The Colombia Action Network rallied on Michigan Avenue in front of the Colombian consulate, demanding an end to Plan Colombia and the Gay Liberation Network held a rally for gay marriage rights in front of the mansion of Cardinal George. Both of these contingents then joined the anti-war demonstration.

Sussan Navabi, one of the tactical leaders of the march and an activist with Students for Social Justice at the University of Illinois at Chicago, summed up the success of the march: “This was powerful. We made a strong statement against the occupation and we stood up to the police.”

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