There is a picture of a woman I believe is TxRangerette, and a man who (based on the name) I assume is PetroniDE carrying American flags. Another larger picture shows the opposition with a young man wearing a nose ring prominently in the forefront.
The article is rather lengthy and I'll try to hit some of the high points for you:
Police estimate about 300 people attended, and there were no arrests or major incidents.
The protesters said the event "was a chance to raise perspective on U.S. policy in the Middle East that rarely makes it into mainstream media coverage". A protestor named Robert Jensen, identifed as a UT journalism professor said the war on terrorism is "being used as a pretext to project U.S. power into the Middle East and parts of Asia that are oil-rich regions."
A couple from Dallas say "Bush is alienating all of our allies. He's just a bully."
Now for the good part!
"A handful of counterprotesters (that's all of you!) gathered.....in Tonkawa Falls park....As speakers were bashing Bush.....the counter-protesters, who identified their group as FREE REPUBLIC used a megaphone to yell taunts across police tape and barbed wire.
"A woman from Abilene, who asked not to be named (TxRangerette is this you????) recited the lyrics to Lee Greenwood's 'Proud to be an American' several times through a bull born. Houston resident (I'm redacting the name -- believe it is PetroniDE) said he came to Crawford to show his support for the president and the country in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
"We heard they were going to have an anti-war protest, which is just a code word for anti-Bush and anti-America, he said. Don't these people realize we are still hurting from Sept. 11? A lot of people have apparently forgotten what happened that day and before on the (USS) Cole and when our embassies were bombed. This has been going on a long time, and we don't need to send any message that makes it appear our resolve is wavering."
The article goes on the discuss caravans of bikes, cars and buses who attempted to travel to the president's ranch and were turned away at several roadblocks. Then the protestors presented McLennan County Sheriff Larry Lynch with a petition denouncing a possible war with Iraq. Hadi Jawad, one of the event's organizers said he considered the event a success. "We mobilized people from all over the state to participate......we really made some connections, and I think the beginning of a strong network to oppose a war in which the U.S. would stand alone."
If any of you are interested in obtaining the full text of the article, the reporter/writer's email address and phone number are listed with the article. FReepmail me and I will pass it on to you. Apologies for any typos and incorrect quotation marks. Please ping anybody I missed as I lifted names off this thread with no clue how many others might have attended.
Yup, the battle has just begun. The hippies and marxists are reuniting. They're not going to get away with it this time.
Don't these people realize we are still hurting from Sept. 11? A lot of people have apparently forgotten what happened that day and before on the (USS) Cole and when our embassies were bombed. This has been going on a long time, and we don't need to send any message that makes it appear our resolve is wavering."
I did say that. I also mentioned PanAm-103 and the Achille Lauro; for once, the reporters got my statement at least close.