Iraq Veterans Against the War celebrate peaceful victory at DNC (click here for story and more photos)

August 28, 2008 by emile

Iraq Veterans Against the War member Shalom Keller speaks Aug. 27, while Jason Hurd raises his fist, at a march to end the war in Iraq. The group and its supporters drew a crowd of at least 4,000 to march from the Denver Coliseum to the Pepsi Center, where veterans held their ground against a wall of riot-gear-clad police. Despite a tense moment in which police readied tear gas canisters, a representative from Obama's campaign acknowledged receipt of a letter from IVAW, leading the veterans to about face.

Story and photos by Emile Hallez for Colorado Indy Media

When the formation of Iraq veterans did an about face, the wall of riot-gear-clad police put away their tear gas canisters. Ominous storm clouds parted. It was an unexpected victory for the Iraq Veterans Against the War and a relief to everyone near the DNC entrance to the Pepsi Center.
The fruit of IVAW’s labor: Receipt of the group’s letter to Obama was acknowledged and hope for a meeting with the presidential candidate.
“They took it,” said Matthis Chiroux, a member of IVAW. “I swear to god, I thought I was going to get shot in the face. But we held our ground. The Denver police held their ground, and they were extremely professional throughout the whole ordeal. … The Denver police have been so good to IVAW here.”
The veterans group and thousands of supporters marched from the Denver Coliseum to the Pepsi center following a free concert organized by Tent State. Performers at the concert, including rapper Johnny 5 of The Flobots, Boots Riley of The Coup, and members of Rage Against the Machine held a banner behind the veterans, which read “Support GI resistance.”
Following a police escort through downtown Denver the march paused intermittently at intersections, where veterans took water breaks and supportive bystanders gathered on sidewalks.
Though the march was planned to end in the protest zone dubbed “The Freedom Cage” in the Pepsi Center parking lot, the group opted to move instead near an entrance to the venue. Hundreds of police formed tactical barriers, face shields down and batons in hand.
The veterans, who wore combat fatigues and dress uniforms, stood in formation, saluting the police.
“I was really nervous when we came face to face like that,” Chiroux said. “Here’s where the unmovable object comes into contact with the unwavering force. And a miracle just sprouted right up out of the ground right in the middle of it all.”
That miracle couldn’t have happed sooner. When an Obama campaign aide delivered the news, the veterans – and the police – backed down.

Demostrators hold hands Aug. 27 near the DNC protest zone in the Pepsi Center parking lot dubbed "The Freedom Cage."

IVAW member Liam Madden said that merely delivering the letter was not enough.
“We don’t just want to give this to you,” Madden said he told an Obama aide. “We want to read it to the delegates at the Democratic National Convention.”
Madden and fellow IVAW member Jeff Key were granted entrance into the DNC, where they said they spoke with Obama’s veterans’ affairs head Phil Carter. Though no official response has been issued from the Obama campaign, the IVAW said it is expecting one.

IVAW's letter to Obama addresses three points: immediate withdrawal of all occupying forces from Iraq; full benefits and health care for returning veterans; and reparations to the Iraqi people.

“Democracy had new life breathed back into it in the United States of America,” Chiroux said. “Every piece of shit experience I ever went through in the Army – and every time I’ve ever felt like what I did was wrong – I feel like I’ve made up for today.”

Denver police block an enterance to the Pepsi Center Aug. 27 at the intersection of Market Street and Speer Boulevard.

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