What drew East Coast residents to New York City in cool temperatures on March 20? Why did they brave the sharp wind, the police pens, up to 7 hours of standing and marching? Read their explanations; hear their ideas; feel their pain and hope. And decide for yourself - can our government justify its actions in Iraq?

Ninety minutes before the rally started, New Jersey graduate student William Gordon stood ready to serve the protesters with pins, books, handouts and signs on cardboard tubes from the march's main organizer, United for Peace and Justice."The war in Iraq was unjust because it was started without cause or provocation. People were saying we should go to war, but I think the government was just looking for an excuse to take down Iraq really. Weapons of Mass Destruction is a big lie. Now we're working for "democracy building" in Iraq. War is a very poor tool to build democracy."

Upstate New York civil servant Karen Campbell: "The 9-11 Cover-up is that the Bush administration is not cooperating with the 9-11 Commission. The administration is dragging its feet, not giving the commission information. The government removed 28 pages from the documents so the public can't see the report. The president says he'll only talk to the 9-11 Commission for an hour. What does that even mean? Why didn't he say 'of course, I'll do anything I can to help you.' Why were the Saudis and bin Laden family flown out of the country on 9-11, when the airspace was closed in the whole country? No one has ever addressed that, and I have tried to imagine why and I can't…why 40-60 people were flown out of the country on a day when they said there were to be no flights."

Retired engineer Barry York served with the U.S. Army in the 1950's. Lining up with Veterans for Peace (www.veteransforpeace.org), he tells a reporter for The Modern Tribune that the invasion of Iraq was "illegal, unnecessary, and stupid." Reporter asks, "Is it unpatriotic to question the President?" York says, "It's unpatriotic to not question the administration. That's what democracy is about." He thinks the recent slashing of veteran benefits is "terrible." "Here again, when out troops come home, we turn our backs on them." The remedy? "Get rid of this administration. They will certainly be better treated by a new administration. They couldn't be treated any worse."

"George Bush, You Killed My Son." Sue Niederer's son, Lt. Seth Dvorin, died in Iraq on February 3, trying to disarm a bomb. It was detonated by remote control. "They blew him up," says Niederer of Pennington NJ, brandishing her son's photo. "He wasn't a happy camper [about going to Iraq], but he didn't really have time to think about it. He reported to base on a Monday and was told on Tuesday, 'you're outa here'. He had just finished his training." Reporter: When he got in the military, did he know it was possible he would get called up? "Absolutely not. He joined prior to the [Iraq] war and went in through officer candidates school. His recruiter told him that if he ever saw war, he would not see combat because of the fact that he was an officer. He would not be put on the front lines."

"Lies, lies, lies, lies, lies...No Bush War." "I'm fed up with slogans, fed up with lies," says Clea Fowler. Here is her short lie list: "Lie: Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. Lie: Iraq was a clear and eminent threat to the US. Lie: Our interests are better served by going to war in Iraq rather than staying at home and using our money for education and healthcare. There is violence in this country that need to be dealt with, including our own arsenal of weapons of mass destruction." Is the US responsible with its weapons of mass destruction? "We're not responsible. We're not peace makers, we're war-makers. We're not an advocate of democracy, we're a funder of dictatorships and we see that very clearly in the recent coup-de-tat against Aristide in Haiti." Fowler's hometown of Cornwall, Connecticut (www.ct.org) is one of many cities for peace (www.citiesforpeace.org). Upon mention of Sue Niederer's son (above), her eyes tear up; she wipes them. "Yeah, I saw the poster. It's so sad, I can't even think about it right now."

High school student Tristian Vis, from Goshen, NY stands next to a modified American flag that says "Killing in the name of Halliburton, Chevron, Exxon, Mobil, Hess, Sunoco, Esso, Texaco, Shell, TP..." "I'm here to protest the war. This administration lied to us about weapons of mass destruction and about the terrorist connections of 9-11." His friend, Tim Robbins, made the sign. "We need stop depending so much on oil," implores Robbins. "Let's look for different kinds of energy sources." Vis chimes in, "We need more funding for alternative energy research."

Gunter Grass said "The job of a citizen is to keep your mouth open." Mouths Wide Open (www.mouthswideopen.org) staged a crusade. Said spokesperson and Manhattan playwright Katt Lissard, "George Bush started using the language of crusade very shortly after September 11, 2001, and we thought that was pretty scary. Our piece is the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse Crusade. We've got Cheney, Bush, Rumsfeld and Ashcroft as our four horsemen. We think it's really important for people to understand that these guys are on a crusade to get American control of larger and larger portions of the world through preemptive war. We've gotten to a point where we're the big bully on the planet." What about the threat of Saddam Hussein? "Look at where Saddam Hussein came from - Rumsfeld shook his hand. We helped make Saddam who he was. He was working for us until he suddenly wasn't working for us. I think we're OK with some dictators. People should be asking why, at this moment, the decision was made to unseat Saddam. He had nothing to do with the attacks on September 11, 2001 - even the administration said that. I think it's a little too simplistic to say it's just about oil. I think it's strategic, I think it's very complicated."

Text © copyright 2004 Lee Leffler. All rights reserved.
Photos © copyright 2004 Anthony Maresco except as noted. All rights reserved.