Connecticut antiwar forces: unite in protest
2007Christopher Hutchinson 2007-06The page as the paper published it (Wayback Machine) →
From the paper's own web edition, recovered from the Internet Archive: the text as the paper put it online, not machine-read. The printed issue of June 2007 is not held.
by Christopher Hutchinson / June 2007 issue of Socialist Action newspaper
NEW LONDON, Conn.—About 1000 people assembled outside the Coast Guard Academy here on May 23 to protest President Bush and the war in Iraq. As Bush delivered a commencement speech inside the Academy, veterans, workers, students, and professors rallied outside as part of the ANSWER Coalition’s "Turn up the heat in 2007" initiative.
ANSWER was not the only coalition calling an action on May 23. Connecticut Opposes the War (COW), a coalition headed by Democrats and focused mainly on electoral politics, held a silent vigil and march to the Coast Guard Academy with a contingent of around 150 activists.
Connecticut, as in other parts of the country, has been hampered by the inability of antiwar forces to form any sort of united front action. May 23 saw a new twist, however, as the COW contingent integrated with the ANSWER rally. Previously, the leadership of both coalitions had been remiss to unite.
The antiwar demonstrators included veterans and military families. This factor was highlighted by Carlos and Melida Arredondo, whose son Alex was killed in Iraq in 2004. Their sobering arrival in a pick-up truck, outfitted with a flag-draped coffin and filled with their son’s personal effects, moved the crowd.
The antiwar rally was composed primarily of student activists. For many, this was their first time participating in an antiwar demonstration.
These new activists have the ability to become a layer of leadership that can push the old forces toward unity. What we hope will emerge is the formation of a real democratic united-front coalition capable of mobilizing the masses and shutting down the ruling class’s war machine.