Marking the second anniversary of the war in Iraq, Arlington residents rallied by the veteran's memorial in Clarendon. About 100 people crowded the park and lined the surrounding streets with signs calling for an end to conflict. The American death toll in Iraq, as of the Connection's press time, stands at 1,514 according to the Department of Defense.
"My nephew was one of the Marines who went in with the invasion," peace activist Kristine Montamat said in a speech. "I've spent years around the military and that has sensitized me to the challenges military families face. I wanted to have a public place where people could come together to honor the dead, remember the wounded and to express with each other our wish to end the war."
Montamat was joined with other activists who forged a small, local group among members of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Arlington. In a speech, Montamat questioned the Bush administration's motives for war and the alleged threat Saddam Hussein's regime posed to U.S. security.
"We were told many things about the danger Iraq posed to us, none of which have been borne out," she said. "Indeed, once the war was begun, the Deputy Secretary of Defense admitted that they picked weapons of mass destruction as the rationale simply because it was the most effective way to persuade the nation that we really did need to attack Iraq right away."
Montamat also drew attention to the high cost of the war, more than $157 billion in last two years. That figure includes an $81 billion supplemental passed last week.
"But in all that money, a majority of members of Congress did not see fit to increase health funding for the Veterans Administration, although Virginia is already caring for Iraq veterans or would if they could get in the door," she said. "Our military is being strained to the breaking point, and to fix the damage that is being done to it by the Iraq war is going to be costly and difficult."
THE UNTOLD NUMBER of children injured or killed during the war was the focus of attention for some at the rally. Members of the activist group Arlingtonians for Peace put the suffering of child victims at the forefront Friday with a barrage of signs on the Key Bridge. At the rally, activist Debby Churchman said precise figures on child victims in Iraq are hard to find.
"The most conservative estimate we could find was 20,000," Churchman said. "It's the end of our second year in Iraq and we're beginning our third. This rally was really a way for us to be a witness of the anniversary. Everybody has an opinion about the war, but I think, universally, people understand that you just don't kill each other."
Child deaths, according to activist Anne Bridgeman, are granted little attention in the news.
"Occasionally you see a death count floated," she said.
The real number of children and other civilians who have died in the war vary heavily depending on the source. Some U.S. and British military accounts put the number at a low estimate of 7,000. Estimates from non-profit and anti-war groups are much higher. On the Internet, a Web site entitled iraqbodycount.net puts the total number of dead between 17,000 and 19,000.
"The lives of these children have value," said Bridgeman. "If more people knew how many children are being killed or hurt there now, I think you'd see more people out here today. Even if you believe the Bush administration's speeches that the war is for freedom and democracy, how many people, how many children have to die?"
U.S. Rep. Jim Moran (D-8th) has attached an amendment to the recent House version of a supplemental spending bill. The measure demands that the Bush administration present an exit strategy for its operations in Iraq. In his weekly radio address President George W. Bush reaffirmed his stance on the ongoing conflict in Iraq.
"Now, because we acted, Iraq's government is no longer a threat to the world or its own people," Bush said. "Iraq's progress toward political freedom has opened a new phase of our work there. We are focusing our efforts on training the Iraqi security forces. As they become more self-reliant and take on greater security responsibilities, America and its coalition partners will increasingly assume a supporting role. In the end, Iraqis must be able to defend their own country, and we will help that proud, new nation secure its liberty. And then our troops will return home with the honor they have earned."
Among the American soldiers killed in Iraq is one from Arlington, Joel Egan Baldwin, 37. Baldwin, a chief builder, was killed Dec. 21, according to the Defense Department, in a bombing at a mess hall for U.S. troops in Mosul. He left behind a wife and a 9-year-old daughter.