I’ve been to several protests around the area but have never encountered anything like what I found outside the courthouse. A counter protest put on by “Gathering of Eagles” a group whose support of the war and our current President Ifind astounding. I think I may have discovered the 23%.

Let me address each of the points in GoE’s mission statement:

1. Gathering of Eagles is non-partisan. While each member has his or her own political beliefs, our common love and respect for America and her heroes is what brings us together.

Non-partisan is not an issue with these people, the last time I heard this many Republican talking points was the 2004 convention. Hell, people were bringing up Ted Kennedy and Jane Fonda.

2. We are a non-violent, non-confrontational group. We look to defend, not attack. Our focus is guarding our memorials and their grounds.

Please, these people went out of their way to try and provoke an incident, as soon as our group began reading the first hand accounts of victims of torture at our Governments hands the entire crowd of them, 30 or so surrounded us and began screaming “waterboarding builds character”, “God bless George Bush” and so on. Clearly the intent was to intimidate.


3. We believe that the war memorials are sacred ground; as such, we will not allow them to be desecrated, used as props for political statements, or treated with anything less than the solemn and heartfelt respect they–and the heroes they honor–deserve.

Sorry, it isn’t the left that’s been using the war dead as props, it’s the Bush administration. The list would be too long to place here.

4. We are wholly and forever committed to our brothers and sisters in uniform. As veterans, we understand their incredible and noble sacrifices, made of their own accord for a nation they love more than life itself. As family members, we stand by them, and as Americans, we thank God for them.

What? We believe something else? Never mind that several members of Veterans for Peace were in attendance, somehow that view doesn’t count.

5. We believe in and would give our lives for the precious freedoms found in our Constitution. We believe that our freedom of speech is one of the greatest things our country espouses, and we absolutely hold that any American citizen has the right to express his or her approval or disapproval with any policy, law, or action of our nation and her government in a peaceful manner as afforded by the laws of our land.

I couldn’t agree more, so why do you go out of your way to trample our 1st amendment rights with thinly veiled threats and intimidation? Referring to one senior in attendance as an “asshole” and the rest of us as liars and traitors while the screams and spittle fly from your mouths is hardly in keeping with the 5th point of your mission statement.

6. However, we are adamantly opposed to the use of violence, vandalism, physical or verbal assaults on our veterans, and the destruction or desecration of our memorials. By defending and honoring these sacred places, we defend and honor those whose blood gave all of us the right to speak as freely as our minds think.

Again, I couldn’t agree more, so tell me exactly who is doing this? Were the Quakers defacing headstones in Arlington? Or is it that you simply need an excuse, any excuse to be violent yourselves.

7. We vehemently oppose the notion that it is possible to “support the troops but not the war.” We are opposed to those groups who would claim support for the troops yet engage in behavior that is demeaning and abusive to the men and women who wear our nation’s uniform.

Wanting our soldiers home from an illegal and unjust war of choice IS supporting the troops. Wanting peace is neither demeaning nor abusive, but insisting on a continuation of this war solely to achieve some twisted definition of victory is not only demeaning, it’s obscene.

8. We believe in freedom at all costs, including our own lives. We served to protect the freedoms Americans enjoy, and we agree with Thomas Jefferson’s assertion that “From time to time, the tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”

Jefferson has other quotes:
“I abhor war and view it as the greatest scourge of mankind”.
“I have seen enough of one war never to wish to see another.”
“Peace and friendship with all mankind is our wisest policy, and I wish we may be permitted to pursue it.”

9. We will accept nothing less than total, unqualified victory in the current conflict. Surrender is not an option, nor is defeat.

No matter how many lives are lost, American and Iraqi? See number 7.

10. We stand to challenge any group that seeks the destruction of our nation, its founding precepts of liberty and freedom, or those who have given of themselves to secure those things for another generation. We will be silent no more.

And neither will we!

Note: I've got some photo's of the event but couldn't get them posted.