“Rage against the War Machine”- An Extraordinary Rally in Washington

The rally and march that took place in Washington, D.C. against the war machine on Feb. 19 featured an array of speakers from across the political spectrum, including three former U.S. Congressmen. (Watch the livestream  here.) Estimated at some 3,000 attendees (in addition to tens of thousands watching the live stream), the size was less important than two factors which made it unique, and so threatening to the war hawks engaged in self-congratulation at the same time in Munich.

First, the diversity of the coalition for the march, which included leaders from the Libertarian Party and the People’s Party, was most unusual. Speakers, and those in the audience, broke the profile of partisanship, as the message in Washington was focused on ending the war. Left-right polarization and “identity politics” are weapons designed to divide, and have given Congress a free hand to support the insane war policies of the Military-Industrial Complex. The narrative of lies supporting the de facto war against Russia is being openly challenged, from the release of the “Twitter files”, to the powerful revelation by Seymour Hersh, that the U.S. blew up the Nord Stream pipelines. That, in turn, is bringing more and more people into the streets and into other forms of public protest.

The second factor, highly threatening to those trying to crush this dynamic, is the emergence of the Schiller Institute and the LaRouche movement as a key part of this mobilization. Despite efforts to repeat the old slanders against the late Lyndon LaRouche, members of his organization were everywhere, both on the podium as speakers, and in the crowd, circulating Helga Zepp-LaRouche’s call for a new strategic and development architecture to replace the neo-con/neoliberal alliance (cf. below). People hungry for answers to how to end the war, and move to a durable peace, expressed their excitement about meeting LaRouche organizers, and having the old lies about the movement dispelled.

The demonstration included a video of a powerful message from Helga Zepp-LaRouche, and speeches by LaRouche leader Diane Sare, a candidate for U.S. Senate in New York in 2024, and Jose Vega, a young activist becoming famous for his public interventions which expose the war hawks in Congress, such as phony “progressive” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Over 20 other speakers were featured, including Tulsi Gabbard, Ron Paul, Jimmy Dore and Max Blumenthal. All agreed that this event was a promising start at building a powerful anti-war movement, by making the ultimate aim the economic reform that can assure a durable peace. Visits to Congressional offices are planned, along with more demonstrations aimed at expanding the dynamic behind this emerging coalition.