By Mark Scott
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wbfo/local-wbfo-574108.mp3
Buffalo, NY – Monday marks the fourth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war. Anti-war activists will mark the anniversary with a community event.
March 19, 2003. It was a Wednesday evening. At around 9:45, NPR's Robert Siegel broke in with the bulletin that the war was underway.
Most Americans were initially supportive of the war. But four years later, that's changed. Colin Eager is director of the Western New York Peace Center. On the night after the war broke out, anti-war activists rallied at Elmwood Avenue and Bidwell Parkway in a cold rain. He says they turned out to be right in their initial analysis.
Eager said he had much hope when the Democrats gained control of Congress in last November's election. But he said it has become apparent that the new congressional leaders are moving too slowly in charting a new course for Iraq.
Monday night's event is called "War is Over: Western New York Sounds Off on Iraq." It's free and begins at 6:30 at the Unitarian Universalist Church on Elmwood Avenue.
Geiger says the phrase "War Is Over" was borrowed from John Lennon during the 1960s Vietnam War protests. He says it's a challenge to people who want the war to be over that the power lies within their hands.