Hundreds of students and youth join the CAN contingent at March 17th march on the Pentagon.

[Campus Antiwar Network]

Hundreds of members of the Campus Antiwar Network from all over the country marched on the Pentagon demanding an end to the war and occupation in Iraq. CAN was able to organize a successful contingent which had representation from a couple dozen of our Midwest, Southern, and East Coast chapters. We were also joined by many other students, new to CAN who now wish to affiliate their independent organizations with the network. CAN members also participated in a demonstration in San Francisco.

The CAN contingent had hundreds of students and youth participating making it one of the largest contingents in the March on the Pentagon organized by International Answer. The overall size of the march was between 15,000-30,000 demonstrators. Many buses from the North East had been canceled due to bad weather, this included a number of CAN chapters.

Unlike previous demonstrations in D.C, this march had a larger presence of counter demonstrators. The counter demonstrators was largely made-up of leather jacket Vietnam Veteran Bikers. It is unknown if this is the same group that escorts military funerals shielding the families from the anti-gay rhetoric of Fred Phelps and his organization. It has been reported that a rumor was circulated amongst conservative media outlets that antiwar activist were coming to D.C to deface the Vietnam War Memorial, it is thought that this vicious lie caused to he larger and more violent presence of pro-war demonstrators.

Many scuffles broke out between antiwar activist and the pro-war demonstrators, all of which were provoked by the pro-war side. A number of veterans from the state of Iowa who had come to protest the war were verbally and physically attacked when they tried to visit the Vietnam Wall to honor their fallen comrades.

We want to thank all of you who served as contingent marshals, brought CAN banners, led chants, and canvassed the crowd for new contacts. A particular thanks goes to the University of Wisconsin Madison who brought some great banners and provided many volunteers to help with the contingent logistics.

Si Se Puede, we can stop the war!

Yes we can, we can stop the war!

Chis Schwartz

University of Northern Iowa Students for Social Justice