Anti-war protesters descended onto Washington DC on Sunday to demand that the United States stop sending weapons to Ukraine, disband NATO, and join China and Russia in creating a multi-polar world, among other demands.
The Rage Against the War Machine rally was attended by roughly a thousand people and included former State Department speakers, politicians, journalists, and activists. Former Senators Ron Paul (R-TX) and Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) and former Representative Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) headlined the event and called for unity among the anti-war movement.
“I know some people, who wouldn’t show up to this peace rally, this anti-war rally, because of some of the speakers they had lined up on stage,” Jimmy Dore, a comedian and popular podcast host said on stage.
“I get what they are saying ‘hey, I want to stop a nuclear war, but not with those people' […] The people who won’t be attending today never had any intention of doing so. If it wasn’t one of the speakers, it would have been the weather. It would have been because they have more important things to do than survive. They will be at home watching CNN not cover this all day.”
The protest was criticized, mostly from the left, for hosting some speakers who hold conservative views on social issues, and for being organized in part by libertarian groups.
Protesters gather in front of the Lincoln Memorial for the Rage Against the War Machine rally on February 19, 2023
© Sputnik/Ian DeMartino
“We basically shifted from Afghanistan to Ukraine and it needs to be stopped. Too many people are dying,” Tara Reade, a former Senate aide, author, actress, and producer of The Kim Iversen Show told Sputnik at the rally.
“The enemy is the military-industrial complex and a very corrupt regime, the Biden regime.” Reade has accused President Biden of sexually assaulting her in 1993 when she was a Senate aide. The Biden administration has denied the accusation but at the rally, Reade stressed that she is willing to testify under oath in a potential investigation by Congress.
Estimates on the number of attendees at the rally have yet to be released, but it looked to be between 1,000 and 3,000 attendees.
Protesters gather in front of the Washington Monument for the Rage against the War Machine Rally on February 23, 2023
© Sputnik/Ian DeMartino
“I’m here for the cause of avoiding nuclear war,” one protester from the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania who held a "Drop Acid, Not Nukes" sign told Sputnik.
“I think the US shouldn’t be involved in any wars. We shouldn’t be funding, we shouldn’t be aiding, we shouldn’t be invading, we shouldn’t be involved. I think we are teetering very close to nuclear war. We have to be careful if we can’t find a way to get a peaceful resolution.”
A protester holds a sign "Drop Acid Not Nukes" at the Rage Against the War Machine Rally in Washington DC on February 23, 2023
© Sputnik/Ian DeMartino
The event was held in front of the Lincoln Memorial, with the group marching to the White House to deliver a list of ten demands, including to stop funding Ukraine, negotiate peace with Russia, and disband NATO, to Biden.
“Millions of people are either wounded, killed, their homes are destroyed, the refugees, no matter whether it is in Iraq or in Ukraine, it is wrong,” retired US Army colonel and former State Department official, Mary Ann Wright told Sputnik at the event. “That is why I am here to say it is wrong and to ask the American people to keep putting pressure on the members of Congress to say 'no more weapons, but negotiate.’”
A small group of pro-Ukrainian counter-protesters also showed up at the rally, numbering about five people. They held signs saying “Rage against Russian Invasion” and carried Ukrainian flags.
The opposing sides remained friendly and peaceful during the event.
Veteran radio and TV political analyst who hosts The Critical Hour on Radio Sputnik, Garland Nixon, and Sputnik correspondent Wyatt Reed, both spoke at the event.
The speakers focused on the military-industrial complex. “Our nation used to lead the world in producing steel, cars and ships,” Kucinich, the former mayor of Cleveland who was a staunch opponent of the Iraq war when he was in office, said during his speech. “Now, we lead the world in making enemies, confusing defense with offense. Arming ourselves to the teeth, spending trillions of dollars to advance an aggressive empire through the promotion of war. But the wars, my dear friends, have come home.”
The speeches ended with a video message from former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters.