Protesters call for end to U.S. wars on 20th anniversary of Iraq invasion

Protests have taken place across the U.S. calling for an end to Washington's involvement in the Ukraine war as the world marks the 20th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.  

In the U.S. capital, people rallied in front of the White House and marched in the streets of Washington, D.C.  Claudia de la Cruz from The People’s Forum spoke at the rally following the march: “We’re here to let the world know that we are committed as a people to shut the war machine down.  The planet and humanity depend on us.  We’ve got to fight.  We’ve got to continue to demand an end to NATO, an end to AFRICOM, an end to the Southern Command and the levels of sanctions that the U.S. has all across the globe. We need to continue to make the connections of working-class people in the United States to the working-class people all around the world.  We’re also recommitting ourselves to lift up the antiwar movement once again.”

The Costs of War Project estimates up to 306,000 Iraqi civilians have died from direct war-related violence, while hundreds of thousands more Iraqi civilians have died from indirect causes and millions have been displaced.  Some estimates put the death toll in Iraq at over 2 million. 

In the lead-up to the illegal 2003 invasion, tens of millions of people took to the streets in thousands of antiwar protests around the globe.