Almost 200 people turned out last Monday night at Albuquerque’s Bataan Memorial Park to protest the strikes by the United States and Israel on Iran. Speakers addressed the crowd, who waved signs at passing motorists along Lomas Boulevard as the sun dropped below the horizon.
The park is a military memorial dedicated to New Mexico soldiers who died in the Bataan Death March. Bill Tiwald with Veterans for Peace said the protest’s location was particularly appropriate, because the march took place during the last war that was officially declared by Congress — World War II.
“We have to get the people, through the representatives of Congress, back into the equation,” he said. “That is the main reason I'm here.”
Tiwald told the crowd almost every president since World War II has engaged in some sort of intervention in foreign countries, and argued presidents have too much power.
Other speakers discussed what they called the hypocrisy of the United States to direct other countries in peacemaking while also being the only country to have ever deployed a nuclear weapon in war.
Shannon McKenna with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, which planned the event, says the turnout shows everyday people don’t want another war.
“It doesn't help us here at home, it kills our friends and our family, and then we get nothing in return.,” he said. “The only people who do benefit are the ruling class in our country. So the billionaires are the Trump administration, the people that have investments in war and oil, and that's not the people.”
The protest was part of a national day of action co-organized with the ANSWER coalition in response to U.S. and Israeli military actions against Iran resulting in over 800 dead in just a few days.
Support for this coverage comes from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
