'Arrest Bush/Cheney' banner falls from National Archives

Twenty-four hours after they climbed over the fence at the National Archives and hoisted a banner that said “DEFEND OUR CONSTITUTION. ARREST BUSH /CHENEY: WAR CRIMINALS!” five veterans today stood down.

"We're always told to 'write your congressman,' and we have," said Tarak Kauff, a 67-year-old former Army Airborne soldier and painting contractor who gave ground support to the five protesters from Veterans for Peace during their 24-hour fast. "Only this time we brought a letter they couldn't miss."

In an interview, Kauff said:

We've made our point writ large that Bush and Cheney are war criminals and must be arrested and prosecuted.  Impeach them if we can, but we're not holding our breath for Congress to act. The kingpins of this criminal administration will be brought to justice, along with many of their lieutenants.

The protesters:

* Elliott Adams: 61, New York, VFP president and a former Army paratrooper in Vietnam.

* Ellen Barfield: 52, Maryland, former Army sergeant, full-time peace and justice advocate.

* Kim Carlyle: 61, North Carolina, mountain homesteader, former Army specialist.

* Diane Wilson: 59, Texas, shrimp boat captain, former Army medic.

* Doug Zachary: 58, Texas, VFP staff member, former Maine lance corporal discharged as a conscientious objector.

Authorities did not make a move to interfere with the protest. See Countdown to Crawford's Tuesday post for a video.

-- Johanna Neuman

Photo: Veterans for Peace

Comments

[Bill Jacobs]

"Every Gun that is made, every Warship that is launched, Rocket fired siqnifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed". Dwight David Eisenhower. This I share as a loyal member of Veterans For Peace.