Tampa streets came alive with people that the US government and controlled media can no longer consider "fringe." The majority of American people don't support the war and insist that our government bring U.S. soldiers back from Iraq. After 5 years of war, it was again time for this message to be heard by our leaders.

A meeting was scheduled with Senator Nelson to let him know that his decisions and votes do not represent the will of the people. The Senator's assistant was fully engaged in the conversation, took notes, asked questions and assured us that she would make sure the Senator would know what we discussed and that the questions we had for him would be followed up.

People of many faiths, the old, young, college students, families, even doggies for peace (one had a sweater embellished with ALL WE NEED IS LOVE!) were all there.  "V”, a Bush-masked protester with blood on his hands, Veterans for Peace, Code Pink, members of CAIR and the Buddhist Peace Fellowship, Pax Christi, and other participating organizations were also present. 

Some of the young people chalked the sidewalk in front of the federal courthouse then moved across the street to chalk up a huge wall, the length of the city block with some very cool graffiti. There were singers and guitarists, chanting, drumming and people just communing with one another in peace, love and fellowship. Photographers dashed in and out of the crowd trying to get their perfect shots. Organizers chanted on the bullhorns and got the others chanting back and forth. At one count there were 250 people lined up on both sides of the street.

Some of the older children, covered in fake blood, laid down as if dead on a makeshift memorial to demonstrate the human cost of war. As Citizens for a Legitimate Government stated, “The British polling firm Opinion Research Business (ORB) asked 1,720 Iraqi adults last summer if they had lost family members by violence since 2003; 16% had lost one, and 5% two. Using the 2005 census total of 4,050,597 households in Iraq, this suggests 1,220,580 deaths since the invasion."  This number doesn’t include the almost 4,000 American soldiers (official count) of those who died in battle. For the real American body count, one would have to include the numbers of the wounded who died later and those who committed suicide as a result of the emotional and mental trauma they suffered. The numbers of the dead the mainstream media give us are skewed!

You and your family are paying dearly for this war! As of right now, this war has cost EACH AMERICAN HOUSEHOLD $16,000! It is time that the truth about this war is told to the American people. If the media will not do it, WE WILL by becoming the media ourselves. Spread the word about this unjust war to your family, friends, and colleagues. Blog, email, join online forums and stay busy expressing your views to anyone that will listen. Never give up! We can DO THIS!

As mainstream media gives about 3% of their time to the war in Iraq, we the people were compelled to bring awareness to our fellow citizens of the true cost of the war in Iraq. Boots and children’s shoes were placed on the courthouse steps to symbolize the loss of American and Iraqi lives. A representation of a slaughtered Iraqi family with Bush and Cheney hovering over them with signs that read “Mission Accomplished” and “Collateral Damage: 1.2 Million” reminded the public that Bush is commander in chief of deception, death and mayhem.

About 75 Demonstrators informed the public that more than a million Iraqis have died, 4.3 million are displaced, 5 million children have been orphaned and nearly 4000 American lives have been lost. Peace activists shared the sidewalks with a small group of pro-war demonstrators. Brown-Waite’s office gave no comment on the peace demonstration or the 5th anniversary of the war, but did give the pro-war demonstrators bottled water. After the demonstration people gathered on the courthouse lawn for lunch then headed to Tampa for a similar demonstration in front of Senator Nelson’s office at the Federal Building.