Opposition to the Iraq War

Anne Arundel Peace Action led local efforts to try to prevent the attack on Iraq in 2003, and the chapter has continually opposed the war and the occupation since its onset. In 2002, the chapter sponsored a 1960s style teach-in which covered the likely and unfavorable consequences of a war against Iraq. The chapter organized a “Sound off Against War” campaign which resulted in floods of letters and telephone calls to Maryland's two senators and to House members whose districts included county residents and a steady stream of letters-to-the-editor to local newspapers opposing the war. The chapter also held a vigil in front of a local cemetery (Ruth Latimer, one of the participants, is pictured at the event), as well as a well-covered press conference and a candlelight vigil of about 250 people at Annapolis City Dock the day before the invasion. The day after the war began, chapter members braved a driving rainstorm to participate in a demonstration at Church Circle and sponsored a subsequent town hall meeting. Chapter members have participated in several national demonstrations against the war in Washington, DC , including one in which an “embedded” reporter accompanied local car pools to the event. The chapter has lobbied for a timetable for the withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Iraq, an end to plans to establish permanent military installations in the country, congressional investigations into misdeeds by those who led the country into the conflict, and a reconstruction aid plan that does not involve war profiteering by corporations.