Activists respond to U.S. provocations with Iran, protest war at White House
By: Gabelizabeth Miller
Tags: War, Iran, Trump Administration, Protest, Qasem Soleimani

Brian Becker, ANSWER Coalition’s National Director, speaks in front of the White House.

By Gabby Miller

January 9, 2020

Washington, D.C. — Less than a day after the Al-Asad Air Force base in Iraq was struck by more than a dozen Iranian ballistic missiles, CODEPINK and ANSWER Coalition organized an emergency action in front of the White House to protest U.S. provoked war with Iran.

Tuesday night’s attack on the airbase, which houses thousands of U.S. troops, was a retaliatory measure Iran took after President Donald Trump ordered an airstrike that killed top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani late last week.

The rally followed President Trump’s official statement outside the oval office Wednesday morning where he announced that the U.S. government would impose further economic sanctions on Iran over the attacks. Protesters gathered in front of the White House at around 3:00 p.m., with signs ranging from “U.S. out of Mid-East” to “Don’t Bomb Iran” (suggestive of the late Arizona Senator John McCain’s 2007 ‘bomb, bomb, bomb Iran’ remark)

The action was kicked off by CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin as she spoke into a microphone while holding a “stop Trump’s war with Iran” sign. Surrounding her were upwards of fifty protestors as well as onlookers visiting D.C.’s popular tourist destination.

“Let’s not think this is over just because of what happened this morning,” said Medea about Trump’s decision to use economic sanctions rather than military force against Iran in the foreseeable future. She continued, “sanctions are a form of warfare and people die from them.”

President Trump in his statement boasted a U.S. military “stronger than ever before” with “big, powerful, accurate, lethal, and fast” missiles at its disposal. Yet, backing away, he argued that just because the U.S. has these capabilities doesn’t mean they should be used.

He announced, “we do not want to use it. American strength, both military and economic, is the best deterrent.”

However, the serious threats these additional sanctions could pose to the Iranian people was a concern expressed by more than just Medea. Artist and activist Eleanor Goldfield believes the sanctions should be categorized as an act of illegal economic warfare due to President Trump’s unilateral decision-making in lieu of consulting the United Nations Security Council.

“The idea that so-called sanctions are not equivalent to war is a dangerous concept,” explained Goldfield, adding “it’s very important folks in the anti-war movement don’t say, ‘oh yeah, no war!’ because sanctions aren’t okay.”

American University student Logan Prewitt described the sanctions as atrocious. “I think it’s very big that Trump didn’t respond with more military action but it’s crucial now that we get out on the street and keep pushing for de-escalation.”

Despite President Trump’s most recent provocations against Iran, many at the rally found it important to broaden the conversation towards how this fits within a larger legacy of U.S. foreign policy in the region.

24 year-old Natasha Pillai believes anti-war activists can do this by looking beyond just President Trump. She argues that “we need to make sure everyone who is responsible for pushing the Iraq war and all of these other interventions” is taken into account. “It’s like a dandelion, you have to get to all the roots.”