WASHINGTON (AP) — Anti-war protesters gathered outside the White
House on Saturday to voice their opposition to a U.S. military strike in
Syria, calling their picket line one that Congress shouldn't cross as
it prepares to vote on the issue.
At least 150 protesters picketed
the sidewalk in front of the White House and marched to Capitol Hill,
chanting slogans like "They say more war; we say no war" and carrying
signs that said a war on Syria would be "Built on a Lie."
"There
is a grass-roots uprising against the Democrats and the Republicans,"
said Medea Benjamin, a founder of the anti-war group Code Pink. "We do
not want another war," she said, underscoring the broad public sentiment
against U.S. military strikes on Syria.
Many lawmakers in both
parties oppose Obama's request for Congress to authorize using military
force against Syria for a deadly Aug. 21 chemical gas attack the Obama
administration blames on President Bashar Assad. Citing intelligence
reports, the administration reported 1,429 people died, including 426
children.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee cleared the
authorization measure earlier this week and the first votes by the full
Senate could come Wednesday.
Concerns
over military action spawned other protests across the country,
including one in New York City's Times Square and a prayer vigil in
Boston that echoed Saturday's massive gathering at the Vatican.
In
New York, anti-Wall Street activists joined the protest along with some
Syrian expatriates who said they supported the Assad regime. Some
protesters carried signs saying, "No more wars for corporate profit,"
and "Cut the Pentagon, not food stamps."
In Indianapolis, about
150 protesters clustered around the Indiana Statehouse in a
church-organized protest opposing military intervention. Other protests
were reported in Louisiana and Michigan.
Benjamin, who earlier
this year interrupted Obama several times as he delivered a speech on
national security, said a cross-section of Americans, many of whom
disagree on a variety of issues, are united against military
intervention.
"We have suddenly found ourselves united as
Americans, overwhelmingly saying we will not let you drag us into
another war," Benjamin shouted into a megaphone in front of the White
House.
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