Minneapolis, MN – Over 50 people joined a Minneapolis anti-war protest on March 19.

The protest was called to mark the 13th anniversary of the March 2003 'shock and awe' bombing of Iraq, the start in 2003 of the U.S. war in Iraq.

The protest was organized under the call of Say No to Endless War – Iraq, Syria, Libya, Afghanistan, Somalia.

Jess Sundin, of the Twin Cities-based Anti-War Committee told the crowd, “In 1998, when I was in Iraq, I could see Iraq’s wealth, under the rubble of bomb shelters destroyed by U.S. smart bombs, and behind the hospital pharmacy shelves laid bare by U.S./UN sanctions. I could also see Iraq’s riches in the eyes of her people – the college students studying without pencils or textbooks banned by the embargo; the engineers working as cab drivers, and the teachers now selling cigarettes. It hadn’t been so long yet, Iraqis remembered what it was to live in a strong, independent and wealthy nation that could provide for the basic needs of its people. What they remembered was a life with dignity, a life any of us would want for ourselves and our children, and a life that has been systematically destroyed by the merciless policies of U.S. empire.”

Sundin continued, “With the ouster of the Ba’athists and the installation of a new government founded on sectarian divisions, with a counter-insurgency strategy that literally created and paid sectarian death squads, and countless other military, political and economic policies carried out to the detriment of huge sections of the population, again on a sectarian basis. The U.S. created in Iraq the perfect conditions the rise of Daesh, or the Islamic State.”

“Endless Western military interventions in the Middle East have brought only destruction and division,” said Sundin.

The protest was held in the West Bank neighborhood of Minneapolis. Many neighborhood residents are Somali immigrant families. As the rally and march went through the neighborhood many people came out to show their support for the anti-war message of the protest.

Several TV stations sent staff to cover the protest.

The Minneapolis March 19 protest was initiated by the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition and endorsed by a range of peace and anti-war groups including Anti-War Committee, Twin Cities Peace Campaign, Veterans for Peace and Women Against Military Madness.

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