Raw Story
Monday, January 29, 2007

New York Times columnist Bob Herbert "thought there was a chance that the march against the war would be a bust" on Saturday but as the "crowd kept building, slowly, steadily" realized that it was anything but.

"You can say what you want about the people opposed to this wretched war in Iraq, try to stereotype them any way you can," Herbert writes. "But you couldn't walk among them for more than a few minutes on Saturday without realizing that they love their country as much as anyone ever has. They love it enough to try to save it."

Herbert was surprised at the optimism of the anti-war movement.

"The goal of the crowd was to get the attention of Congress and persuade it to move vigorously to reverse the Bush war policies," Herbert continues. "But the thought that kept returning as I watched the earnestly smiling faces, so many of them no longer young, was the way these protesters had somehow managed to keep the faith."

Herbert adds, "They still believed, after all the years and all the lies, that they could make a difference. They still believed their government would listen to them and respond."

Excerpts from column:

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The public is way out in front of the politicians on this issue. But the importance of Saturday's march does not lie primarily in whether it hastens a turnaround of U.S. policy on the war. The fact that so many Americans were willing to travel from every region of the country to march against the war was a reaffirmation of the public's commitment to our peaceful democratic processes.

It is in that unique and unflagging commitment, not in our terrifying military power, that the continued promise and greatness of America are to be found.

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