WASHINGTON - Anti-war protesters traded marching shoes for
phones, fax machines and computers Wednesday as part of a
"virtual march" on the nation's capital.
Senators, regardless of their position on a war with Iraq,
were barraged with calls, as was the White House. Outside calls
to Democratic and Republican Senate offices could not be
completed because of busy circuits.
"We will let our fingers do the marching and demand that
our voices be heard," said Tom Andrews, the national director
for Win Without War, the group that organized the protest.
Andrews said about 400,000 people had registered through the
group's Web site for the call-in campaign.
"Well over 1 million phone calls were made in just eight
hours by people from every state in the country" on Wednesday,
he said. "Every senator's office and the White House
switchboard received at least two and often more calls per
minute."
White House spokeswoman Ashley Snee said the switchboard
received "a lot of calls" Wednesday, though she didn't have
figures. Asked how the White House viewed the calls, she said:
"It's a useful tool for people to express their views, but
it's not objective or scientific or a way to measure public
sentiments."
The office of Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., received more than
800 calls in a nearly four-hour span Wednesday morning, about
twice the number of calls it usually receives. Durbin has
opposed unilateral action in Iraq.
Durbin's spokesman Joe Shoemaker also said his office had
received 18,000 e-mails since Tuesday afternoon, more than five
times the number it typically gets.
"A passionate, coordinated effort from citizens speaking
out on an issue dear to their hearts can be quite moving,
Durbin said in a written statement. But he added, "If the goal
is to tie up Congressional phone lines and shut down the
Capitol switchboard, there are better ways to get the point
across."
The office of Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, R-Ill., took more than
100 calls an hour from people on both sides of the issue, said
Fitzgerald's spokesman, Brian Stoller.
Fitzgerald agrees with Secretary of State Colin Powell that
military force must be a last resort, though "it must be a
resort if, as it appears, all our other efforts to compel Iraqi
disarmament prove fruitless," Stoller said.
An aide to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said her office
was also flooded with calls, and some people were unable to get
through. Feinstein voted to authorize the president to use
military force to disarm Iraq if necessary.
"No one expressed annoyance," said Andrews, a former
Democratic congressman from Maine. His group sent Senate
staffers gift baskets for handling the increased calls and
faxes.
Though the White House was also targeted by protesters,
Andrews said many callers could not get through because the
switchboard was clogged. House members were not targeted in
Wednesday's virtual protest.
Religious leaders echoed the anti-war message Wednesday,
visiting Capitol Hill to urge the Bush administration to avoid
military action in Iraq.
"Nothing I understand about Jesus Christ leads me to
believe that support of war and violence are necessary or
tolerable actions for Christian people," said Jim Winkler of
the United Methodist Church.
Winkler was among several church leaders from France,
Germany, Scotland and the United States participating in a
prayer service and briefing organized by the National Council
of Churches.
Some of the participants have already met with German
Chancellor Gerhard Schroder and British Prime Minister Tony
Blair to voice their opposition to war. Other church leaders
met with Pope John Paul II on Wednesday. A meeting with
President Vladimir Putin of Russia is scheduled for next week.
© 2003 The Associated Press
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