Protest closes down US Senate

international | anti-war / imperialism | news report

Friday March 14, 2008 22:14

by Justin Morahan

Ghosts of the Iraq War wreak their vengeance on those who sent them to die

The spineless US Senate that allowed George W Bush to walk over them as he waged an evil war against Iraq were punished by the ghosts of that war on Wednesday last and had to close down their business.

The anti-war campaign in the United States of America shows no signs of bowing to pressure, to threats, to fines, to imprisonment. Gaining strength rather than fear from the jailing of protestors, they continue to stage courageous and imaginative protests at the very heart of Government. On Wednesday, The National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance, who believie in the philosophy of Gandhi and King, closed down the Senate in a demonstration that they had openly advertised.

They entered the Senate Chamber dressed in ghostly clothes and masks and, while a debate was ongoing, their weird and powerful shrieks of protest chilled the Chamber

As a female senator is seen on video saying "and, as discussed in those documents...", a voice from the "graveyard" cries "I AM THE GHOST OF WAR" . "I AM THE GHOST. . ."

"The..the Senator will suspend . . .The Sergeant of Arms will restore order"

"(STOP) THE SLAUGHTER. . . . I.. WILL. NOT. BE. SILENCED"
"STOP THE WAR. STOP THE FUNDING IN (THE NAME OF) ALL THAT IS HOLY. STOP...
"I AM THE GHOST OF THE WAR. .. I CALL FOR THE ENDING OF FUNDING OF WAR SO THAT NO MORE PEOPLE WILL DIE.. STOP THE IRAQ WAR
I AM THE GHOST OF THE IRAQ WAR. ... . WE MUST SAVE THOSE... I AM THE GHOST .. I AM THE GHOST OF WAR . . . .

"The Sergeant of Arms will restore order "

I AM THE GHOST OF THE IRAQ WAR....

As the voices of thirteen ghosts rose to a crescendo and their ghostly forms swarmed within the Senate there was a stubborn cacophony of wailing and protesting voices filling the chamber. Too much for the comfortable chamber to sustain. Eventually one small, uncertain voice was heard saying: .

"The Senate out for recess".

In their advertisement the organisers had said: "The theme--"We Are the Ghosts of the Iraq War"--is appropriate: March 19 will be the beginning of the sixth year of the war. There are now some one million ghosts, and we must speak on their behalf."

This they certainly did in style.

Enjoy this brilliant but too short video at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8BsJdy11Fc&eurl=http://...amber
See also: http://www.iraqpledge.org/