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<b>Sent:</b> Monday, March 15, 2004 9:55 PM<br>
<b>Subject:</b> [SBM] Relatives of US soldiers killed in Iraq protest
outside US base<br><br>
</font><font face="arial" size=4><b>Relatives of US soldiers killed in
Iraq protest outside US base<br><br>
</b></font><font face="arial" size=2> </font><font face="arial" size=1>Mon
Mar 15, 3:03 AM ET<br><br>
</font><font size=3>DOVER, United States (AFP) -
</font><font face="arial" size=2>Some 600 protesters, many of them
relatives of US soldiers killed in Iraq or currently on duty in the
region, marched against the war outside Dover Air Force Base in the
northeastern state of Delaware.<br><br>
</font><font size=3>One of the marchers, Fernando Suarez del Solar, said
that he was "very disillusioned" with the US government of
President George W. Bush. <br><br>
"Bush lies and who dies?" he asked. "My son, Jesus Suarez
del Solar Navarro." <br><br>
The Marine lance corporal was killed in Iraq on March 27, 2003.
<br><br>
For Bush "to get involved in an illegal war and to play with the
emotions of the American people with 9-11 (September 11, 2001) for
politics is wrong," he said. <br><br>
The march was organized by Military Families Speak Out, a group made up
of people with relatives in the military, as well as the group Veterans
for Peace. <br><br>
The bodies of dead US soldiers are flown into Dover, a base that has the
military's largest mortuary. The government however has been reluctant to
let cameras record airplanes unloading coffins, and reluctant to let news
reporters interview personnel wounded in Iraq. <br><br>
Another marcher, Al McLaine, said he had 10 relatives in Iraq --
including his son, an army captain, who he said is "behind us 100
percent." <br><br>
"What Bush calls the war on terrorism is an impossible war because
terrorism is a tactic," said McLaine. "You will not end
terrorism by invading a country." <br><br>
The Sunday march was a "memorial procession" to "honor our
fallen brothers and sisters, sons and daughters," as well as
"Iraqis and the increasing number of people from other countries who
have been killed and wounded," the group said in a statement.
<br><br>
The protesters marched more than five kilometers (3.5 miles) from a local
gathering center to the giant Air Force base, but were not allowed entry.
<br><br>
According to the groups, the Bush administration "refuses to
acknowledge the toll of this war -- including those who are killed and
wounded." <br><br>
"We call on this administration to start telling the truth, and stop
hiding the toll," Military Families Speak Out said in a statement.
<br><br>
The protesters marched up to the base gates and read one by one the names
of the US military personnel killed in Iraq. <br><br>
A similar protest is scheduled for Monday outside the Walter Reed Army
Hospital in the US capital, to be followed by a protest march outside the
White House. <br><br>
The protests are being held to coincide with the one-year anniversary of
the US-led attack on Saddam Hussein's Iraq. <br><br>
<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040315/pl_afp/us_iraq_protest_040315080348" eudora="autourl">http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040315/pl_afp/us_iraq_protest_040315080348</a><br><br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3> <br><br>
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(415) 863-9977<br>
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