Protest links polar bears, farm animals to Iraq war

The numbers of protesters was significantly smaller than the original protests held the day after the invasion of Iraq had begun when thousands of protesters and many large demonstrations were held around the world in opposition to the war.[1][9] Amongst the possible reasons are protester "fatigue", the timing of events, poor weather in some cities and that many protest actions are often ignored by the media even if the number of attendees is in the thousands.[5][10] General apathy towards a war that most Americans feel little connection to as well as general decline in media coverage may have also led to lower turnout.[10] According to a study conducted by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, war coverage in television, newspaper and Internet stories fell from 23% during the first ten weeks of 2007 to 3% during the same period in 2008.[10]

ANSWER Coalition is largely responsible for many of the recent United States-based anti-war protests.[11] Formed in the wake of the September 11th attacks, ANSWER has since helped to organize many of the largest anti-war demonstrations in the United States, including demonstrations of hundreds of thousands against the Iraq War.[12][11] Though its national headquarters are in Washington, D.C., where it organizes its national antiwar demonstrations, the coalition's influence is seen as being perhaps strongest in San Francisco, and increasingly, in Los Angeles. ANSWER has faced criticism from other anti-war groups for its affiliations as well as its tactics at demonstrations as well as charges of antisemitic sentiments expressed by some demonstrators at its protests.[13] Michael Albert and Stephen R. Shalom writing in Z argue that most people at a "...demonstration will in fact be unaware of exactly who said what and whether any particular speaker omitted this or that point."[14] The longer-term effects of these concerns may also play into declining numbers at protest events.

Another perspective was offered at the Kansas City, Missouri vigil where many of the attendees had previously taken part in protests of the Vietnam War, the only other United States war that has had more than five years of protests. One person drew a comparison noting a "fundamental misconception" with many of the protesters, “They’re against it not because it was wrong,” stated Dave Pack, chair of the PeaceWorks board of directors, “but because it wasn’t going the way they wanted it to.”[15] He went on to say that he felt some didn't feel the war was wrong to begin with but they now feel the war is wrong.[15] A CNN-Opinion Research poll released March 19 found 32 percent of Americans support the conflict while 61 percent said they want the next president to remove most U.S. troops within a few months of taking office

____________________
Submited by : Descargar Libros