A few hundred Alaskans in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Homer took to the streets Saturday to protest the U.S.-led war in Iraq and other policies of the Bush administration.
The demonstrations, which were peaceful, were part of a campaign of antiwar protests that took place in cities across America and elsewhere in the world Saturday, the second anniversary of the start of the Iraq war.
In Anchorage, about 150 people gathered at noon at the Veterans Memorial on the Delaney Park Strip at I Street to hear speeches in opposition to the war and sing songs, according to Greg Garcia of Chugiak, a member of Alaskans for Peace and Justice and a former Green Party candidate for the state Senate.
On the anniversary, President Bush, in his weekly radio address, defended the war and said Iraq is on its way to being a democracy and will soon have a new constitution.
Geoff Kennedy, a retired Alaska radio journalist who attended the Park Strip event, said that George Bush, like Ronald Reagan, has appropriated the worldwide movement toward democracy that pre-dated the presidencies of both.
"My perspective is as a Roman Catholic and a Christian. Good can result from evil," Kennedy said. "There are some good results from the horrific war in Iraq. My own belief is that the movement toward democracy would occur with or without George W. Bush."
About half the group broke off at 2 p.m. and marched through the downtown core holding signs that read "Bring the Troops Home" and "Stop Mad Cowboy Disease" before returning to the Park Strip, Garcia said in an interview after the event.
In Homer, a group of protesters gathered at the intersection of Lake Street and the Sterling Highway at 1 p.m. to hold 25 signs, the American flag and a handmade version of the new Iraqi flag, said Hope Finkelstein, an organizer. Afterward they held a silent vigil, she said in a phone interview.
Meanwhile, a hearse containing an empty coffin was driven through Homer's streets, Finkelstein said. Through a speaker on the vehicle, a tape recording played taps, the U.S. Army bugle tune, and an abbreviated Muslim call to prayer in Arabic, she said. The tape played continuously as the hearse made its rounds.
"We really want people to recognize that the war is still going on and the war is killing human beings every day and every moment, and every being is important to remember," Finkelstein said.
The demonstration, organized in conjunction with the national group United for Peace and Justice and Alaskans for Peace and Justice, attracted some hecklers, but none that caused problems.
"It was a peaceful demonstration," Homer police officer David Shealy said.
One motorist passed by, saying to the protesters, "Osama (bin Laden) and all the dictators love you!" according to Finkelstein. The protesters at the Park Strip in Anchorage also were heckled by a few passersby, but their numbers were tiny, Garcia said.
One man who took deep offense to the protesters Saturday was George J. McGovern of Albany, N.Y., who was having lunch at the Downtown Deli with his wife when the marchers passed by on the sidewalk outside.
"I was very upset about it," McGovern, retired military and a World War II vet, said later in the day in a phone interview. "I'm upset about this whole situation. I support the president no matter. We have to support the president, or otherwise it's treason. ... This is something the enemy wants."
Paul Prebys of Anchorage, a founding member of Alaskans for Peace and Justice, said protests like Saturday's campaigns could bring an end to the Iraq war as similar protests hastened a change in American policies during the Vietnam War.
"But I'm disillusioned with the fact that more people aren't getting out on the street," Prebys said.
