By Jefferson Siegel
With Tuesday marking the eve of the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, members of Chelsea Neighbors United to End the War gathered as they had done for the past 149 Tuesday evenings, at the corner of 24th St. and Eighth Ave., holding a large banner and calling for an immediate end to the war.
“In a way, it’s just like any other Tuesday,” Chelsea Neighbors United co-founder Chuck Zlatkin said as he held up one end of the large banner facing uptown traffic. “It’s another week that people are being killed, and billions of dollars are being spent on a war that was based on lies,” he added as a truck honked its horn in support, the driver waving as he passed.
“It’s lasted longer than World War II,” Zlatkin called out while handing flyers to passersby.
As of Tuesday, 3,990 U.S. soldiers had died in the war, and an additional 308 soldiers from U.S. allied forces have also lost their lives. According to the web site icasualties.org, over 130,000 soldiers have been wounded and 145 have died of self-inflicted wounds. Four U.S. soldiers are either missing or captured. In addition, 148 journalists have been killed, and the Website iraqbodyCount.org lists between 82,000 and 89,000 Iraqi civilian deaths.
This Saturday, March 22, an anti-war protest will line 14th St.. The “River-to River-Join Hands for Peace” event will attempt to line up people from the East to Hudson Rivers in a silent protest marking the fifth year of the war. Participants will carry flowers and photos of U.S. Service members.
Members of Chelsea Neighbors United will gather on the northwest corner of 14th St. and Eighth Ave. at noon before they join the 1 p.m. event.
