According to a Reuters report, groups of protesters took to
the streets in Washington and other cities of United States on Saturday to
condemn the air strike in Iraq ordered by President Donald Trump that killed
Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani and Trump’s decision to send about
3,000 more troops to the Middle East.
“No justice, no peace. US out of the Middle East,” hundreds
of demonstrators chanted outside the White House before marching to the Trump
International Hotel a few blocks away.
Similar protests were held in New York, Chicago and other
cities. Organizers at Code Pink, a women-led anti-war group, said protests were
scheduled on Saturday in numerous US cities and towns.
Protesters in Washington held signs that read “No war or
sanctions on Iran!” and “US troops out of Iraq!”
Speakers at the Washington event included actress and
activist Jane Fonda, who last year was arrested at a climate change protest on
the steps of the US Capitol.
“The younger people here should know that all of the wars
fought since you were born have been fought over oil,” Fonda, 82, told the
crowd, adding that “we can’t anymore lose lives and kill people and ruin an
environment because of oil.”
“Going to a march doesn’t do a lot, but at least I can come
out and say something, that I’m opposed to this stuff,” said protestor Steve
Lane of Bethesda, Maryland. “And maybe if enough people do the same thing, he
(Trump) will listen.”
Soleimani, regarded as the second most powerful figure in
Iran, was killed in the US strike on his convoy at Baghdad airport on Friday in
a dramatic escalation of hostilities in the Middle East between Iran and the
United States and its allies.
Public opinion polls show Americans in general have been
opposed to US military interventions overseas. A survey last year by the
Chicago Council on Global Affairs found 27% of Americans believe military
interventions make the United States safer, and nearly half said they make the
country less safe.
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