50 stage anti-war protest at intersection

LR gathering coincides with demonstrations across U.S. over Iraq, Afghanistan

— Casually-clad protesters held "Honk for Peace" and "Impeach Bush" posters and flashed peace signs as honking drivers passed through a busy Little Rock intersection Saturday.

About 50 people showed up at Chenal Parkway and Bowman Road to protest the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A half-dozen or so supporters of the war held a counter protest at the same intersection.

"Get a job!" one man yelled as he drove past the anti-war protesters.

As he held a sign that read "War Doesn't Work" in bold red and black letters, John Coffin, chairman of the Arkansas Coalition for Peace and Justice said: "We understand that a lot of questions have to be answered, but we believe we should set a date" to end the war. "We want action on getting out."

The coalition held the protest on the same day that antiwar demonstrations were heldaround the country.

The United for Peace and Justice coalition, formed in 2002 and made up of groups against the war in Iraq, organized 11 national demonstrations, which were held in Boston, Chicago, New York City, New Orleans, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Seattle, Orlando, Fla., Salt Lake City, Utah, and Jonesborough, Tenn.

In Little Rock, some protesters didn't want to drive to New Orleans, the closest location for Arkansans, said Gladys Tiffany of Fayetteville, a member of the Omni Center for Peace, Justiceand Ecology in Fayetteville, which brought seven people to the demonstration.

Other protesters included Little Rock residents and members of the Arkansas Women's Action for New Directions group, or WAND for short, an organization formed in 1982 that focuses on taking political action to reduce violence.

Sophia Fowler of Fayetteville attended the demonstration in support of her husband, George Fowler, a lieutenant in the Arkansas National Guard's 39th Infantry Brigade.

She and her husband moved to Arkansas from Pennsylvania. They've always been against the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, but the recent activation of her husband for a tour of duty in Iraq has strengthened her resolve, she said. The unit is expected to deploy in March.

George Fowler, a former public affairs officer now serving in the infantry, was notified on Sept. 17 that he would be going to Iraq and left for Fort Chaffee, near Fort Smith, on Oct. 1, his wife said.

Brooks Cato, a student at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, attended the protest with his mother, Kathy Watts, of Hot Springs.

Cato, a student in Cliff Beacham's Peace Studies class at UCA, said he believes Americans are being constantly "uninformed" about what's happening in Iraq.

His mother added that the government was "making up excuses" to stay in the war.

A group of about seven people, including a Vietnam War veteran, staged a counter protest on one of the four corners of the intersection, with signs bearing messages such as "Bombs inBaghdad, not Little Rock."

Wayne Knowles of Little Rock, who served three tours of duty in Vietnam, said he was attending in support of the troops.

"I don't want people to go through what we went through coming back from 'Nam," said the 59-year-old, referring to massive anti-war protests in which soldiers returning from Vietnam were taunted by crowds.

Arkansas, Pages 20 on 10/28/2007

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