Fifty thousand people are expected at an anti-war protest on the National Mall Saturday to demand that American soldiers be brought home and the U.S. occupation of Iraq be ended.
While President Bush declared the end of major fighting in Iraq on May 1, International ANSWER, a coalition of protest groups and individuals, is protesting the continuing military action.
The event begins at 11 a.m. Saturday, at the Washington Monument. Organizers plan to march to Lafayette Park, across from the White House.
AU freshman Suzanne Hill plans to attend because she believes that U.S. troops "are dying in Iraq for reasons not sufficient and unjustified."
The war in Iraq "wasn't about Iraq, there were ulterior motives," Hill said.
ANSWER, which stands for Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, declined to provide an exact estimate of protesters. Group spokesman Bill Hackwell said that people from 135 cities have committed to bringing buses to D.C., with 65 coming from New York City.
The Washington Post reported Wednesday that 50,000 protesters are expected, but the U.S. Park Police expect that to increase with the addition of other groups.
Hackwell said ANSWER has a working understanding with the police that a large crowd would be at the event. While the group secured a permit for Saturday's rally, he was not sure of the estimated attendance on the permit.
Hackwell said that the coalition was founded to work against the actions of the Bush administration since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
"The Bush Administration was going to use the tragedy as an opportunity to conduct endless war," Hackwell said.
According to the group's Web site, International ANSWER includes members such as the New Communist Party of the Netherlands, a retired admiral in the German Navy and revisionist historian Howard Zinn.
Hackwell cited the civil rights movement of the 1960s, the push for women's rights and the protests of the Vietnam War as examples of civil protest that succeeded because of the sheer numbers of outraged Americans.
He said that Saturday's rally would "take growing discontent and bring people into the street."
Freshman Ashleigh Kenny supports the action ANSWER takes.
"It gets an issue out that people may not know about in mass form," Kenny said.
While working to bring soldiers home and end the current military action in Iraq are the leading items on ANSWER's agenda, the group plans to address other issues Saturday, including the poor economy and spending on education and health care.
Junior Andrew Willis, an organizer for the group United for Peace and Justice, said the "protest itself has many dimensions."
Iraq is "turning into a second Vietnam and we need to end occupation," he said.
