Hundreds of war protesters marched through downtown Madison Saturday to voice their opposition to the now three-year-old Iraq conflict.
More than 20 local peace groups teamed up to sponsor the demonstration, which began on Library Mall and ended in the Orpheum Theatre, 216 State St. According to organizer Rachel Friedman, more than1,000 people participated in the march to the Orpheum and approximately 800 went inside to hear speeches from local activists. The protest, titled the Home Improvement Rally,\ focused mainly on the toll the war in Iraq is taking on internal spending. But protesters also called for the impeachment of President Bush and U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, Friedman said. Ald. Austin King, District 8, spoke about inadequate funding for low income housing as a result of the war. According to King, the war is costing Madison $150 million annually.On stage at the Orpheum, organizers displayed the www.costofwar.com website, which places the overall cost of the war at nearly $250 billion. King said the figures helped put the cost of the conflict into perspective.""If all this money had been spent on helping people instead of killing them, Madison would be a much better place to live,"" King said.But Jordan Smith, chair of the UW-Madison College Republicans, said claims that money spent in Iraq would have been spent on local programs if not for the war are inaccurate.""It's not as if we didn't have this war we'd be pouring billions of dollars into schools,"" Smith said. ""I don't think it works that way.""Madison's rally coincided with similar rallies around the world marking the third anniversary of the war. However, an anti-war referendum on Madison's April 4 ballot meant an added wrinkle to Saturday's demonstration.Friedman said the referendum was a ""big part"" of the rally, and deflected conservative criticism that a call to bring American troops home immediately is rash and out of touch with mainstream Democrats.""Now is relative,"" Friedman said. ""It's not like we're suggesting we take every plane in the United States, run over there, and say, ‘Okay, everybody on board, we're going home right now.'""King acknowledged that the Bush administration has largely ignored Iraq war protesters, but said he was encouraged by continued activism. ""Protests do not end wars in and of themselves, King said. ""But they are an important way to get people together and to rally the faithful and maybe get some attention.""\
