Hundreds Protest Bush’s Proposed EscalationPaul Hogarthbyline‚ Jan. 12‚ 2007Four years ago, when George Bush was hell-bent on invading Iraq at a moment’s notice on flimsy evidence, most Americans supported him. Bush had a 70% approval rating at the time, but anti-war groups fought the odds and helped spawn the birth of a new peace movement. San Francisco led the way, with massive marches that brought out hundreds of thousands of people. I attended many of these marches in the run-up to the war, and it was a beautiful thing to be a part of. Today we have an almost reversed situation. As Bush declares his plan to escalate the war and send 21,000 more troops, the overwhelming majority oppose it. His approval ratings are in the toilet, and he suffered a massive rebuke at the polling place last November. In poll after poll, we find that “middle America” wants our troops home – and understands that sending more troops is the last thing we should be doing. But in San Francisco, the same anti-war organizers who inspired us four years ago could barely get a few hundred people out to protest. |