Published: March 19, 2009

Veterans to Protest 6th Anniversary of Iraq War Thursday

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SACRAMENTO - A Sacramento veterans group said it will mark the 6th anniversary of the Iraq War THURSDAY with protests at a downtown freeway off ramp - near where they were arrested twice for protesting the war in a Congresswoman's office.

Veterans For Peace (Chapter 87) said it joins with VFP chapters and veterans all across the national Thursday when it holds protests 7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., 3rd & J Streets (freeway off ramp), later Thursday at Howe and Fair Oaks Blvd from 4:30 to 6 p.m. and a candlelight peace vigil at the Unitarian Auditorium, 2425 Sierra Blvd. 7-9 p.m.

"We need to bring the troops all the way home, and not send them to Afghanistan. We broke Iraq and we have a moral obligation to help the Iraqis rebuild, but not with soldiers' lives. Using soldiers to rebuild is like trying to build a house using bullets and guns instead of hammers and nails," said veteran and VFP/Sacramento president John Reiger.

VFP veterans and parents of U.S. troops in Iraq were arrested in 2007 in Rep. Doris Matsui's office trying to convince her to stop the funding now - since then, she has consistently voted to stop funding for more war in Iraq.

Veterans For Peace objects to President Obama's plan to keep troops in Iraq until 2011.

"Beside the suffering and death caused by prolonging these wars, America simply can no longer afford the cost of empire," commented Mike Ferner, VFP's National President. A long time critic of the invasion and occupation of Iraq, VFP calls for President Obama to bring all the troops home now.

"Barack Obama became president in part because millions of voters were sick of these wars and wanted them stopped, period. It is time for U.S. to pull out all the troops. We want all the troops to come home now," Ferner concluded.