Proponents of the war in Iraq rallied in front of the Federal
Building on Wilshire Boulevard on Sunday, voicing a very different
message than protesters who have demonstrated at the same site in
recent weeks.
About 100 people stood on the corner of Veteran Avenue and
Wilshire Boulevard in solidarity with President Bush’s
military action, chanting “U-S-A” and “Saddam
Hussein, shame on you; Mr. Bush, thank you.”
“Now is the moment, tomorrow is too late. If you wait for
tomorrow, you die, too,” said Rene Vallejo, who held a sign
proclaiming “We Win!”
He explained that the American people have already won because
they enjoy freedom and a high quality of life. Now, he said, they
have to win against terrorism.
Other signs held messages like “Took war to defeat
Hitler” and “No more 9-11″ in addition to the
traditional “We support our troops” and “God
Bless America.”
The rally was dominated by people in support of “Operation
Iraqi Freedom,” as no anti-war protesters were present.
Demonstrators said they felt that the anti-war movement is
misguided and that most of those against the war simply don’t
understand the situation in the Middle East.
“Ninety-five percent of those young people couldn’t
show you Iraq on the map,” said Ted Hayes of Bush’s
detractors.
“The (anti-war) demonstrations have dried up to nothing. I
think that’s appropriate because the young people are in
harm’s way,” said Kevin Dawson, a USC alumnus who
brought his wife, two nephews and a niece to the demonstration.
Dawson, a U.S. Army paratrooper in the early 1970s, said he
wanted to give the children the opportunity to show their support
for America.
An almost constant barrage of honking horns from passing
motorists energized the crowd ““ even fire trucks and
ambulances flashed their lights and sounded their sirens to show
their allegiance.
Charlie House stood on the northwest corner clad in metal armor,
citing a passage in the book of the Ephesians in the Bible as the
inspiration for his attire.
“Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your
stand against the devil’s schemes,” the passage
reads.
The rally started forming around 1 p.m. and broke up by 4:30
p.m.
Ford Pashai, secretary general of the Constitutional Party of
Iran, handed out copies of a letter he wrote to President Bush
expressing his party’s approval of his campaign.
“It is imperative that Iraq achieves its national
sovereignty under a representative government and join the free
world as soon as possible,” Ford said in his letter.
While the crowd was made up mostly of adults, a few UCLA
students, like fourth-year communication studies student Jennifer
Dekel, showed up to make their message heard.
“We want to demonstrate to students and faculty that we
are proud to support our country and that all college students
aren’t against war,” Dekel said.
“There are valid reasons for not going to war, but
anti-war protesters prefer to stick to emotional arguments and
geopolitical fiction,” said fourth-year political science and
history student Justin Levi, who also attended the rally.
Los Angeles Police Department officer Craig Lally described the
rally as “mellow,” and said there were no incidents of
violence and no arrests. Lally said police intelligence predicted a
crowd of a thousand or more.
L.A. County Sheriffs and federal police were present but also
recorded no arrests.
The event was the latest in a string of rallies at the Federal
Building both in support of and against the war.
“We want to let them know their sacrifice is not in
vain,” said Hayes, pointing to Los Angeles National Cemetery
across the street. “They left America in good hands and
we’re not going to let Bin Laden or anyone else take that
away.”