- WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hundreds
of thousands of opponents of a U.S. war against Iraq called and faxed their
senators and the White House on Wednesday in a "virtual march on Washington,"
jamming many congressional telephone lines for several hours.
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- Coordinated by the Win Without War Coalition, an umbrella
protest group, the action aimed to direct at least one telephone call and
fax to every U.S. senator every minute throughout the day. Organizers said
they were far exceeding that goal.
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- The White House switchboard was also flooded and most
callers heard a message that "all circuits are busy."
-
- Tom Andrews, a former Democratic representative from
Maine who is running the organization, said more than 500,000 people had
signed up on the Internet to take part and a half a million more were also
expected to participate without registering on the group's web site (Moveon.org).
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- "We have hundreds of thousands of calls and faxes
that we know are going in. It's a first-of-its-kind protest and a tremendous
success already," he said. "People are making their voices heard
loud and clear -- don't invade and don't occupy Iraq."
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- The Web site had a running total of what it said was
the number of calls placed. As of 2 p.m. the number had exceeded 250,000.
The Web site was flashing the names of individual protesters above a map
of the United States with quotes from e-mails sent to the headquarters
and to lawmakers. Each comment included the name and hometown on the protester.
-
- Some protesters themselves had difficulties getting through
to their representatives. Molly Lanzarotta from Boston said she had to
dial multiple times to get through to an answering service in the office
of Democrat John Kerry, a leading presidential candidate for 2004.
-
- Others tried for long periods but eventually gave up.
Brian Fry tried to call from Cleveland but kept getting the message, "all
circuits are busy." He said he would call his senators' local Ohio
offices instead and try to get through to Washington again later or on
the next day.
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- SET TIMES TO CALL
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- Activists were given set times to call. Chicago marketing
executive Mary Rickard was supposed to call at 3:14 p.m., 3:19 p.m. and
3:24 p.m. The faxes from people who signed onto the Web site were also
programd to go out at set times.
-
- Telephone calls placed from Reuters to various senators
received busy signals at all but two offices. At Florida Democrat Bob Graham's
office, a spokeswoman said they had received 400 calls in the first three
hours of the day, well above the norm. At Nebraska Republican Charles Hagel's
office, a spokeswoman said the front desk did not seem to be any busier
than usual.
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- Andrews said the Internet had emerged as a key tool for
the anti-war movement in organizing protests and instantly reaching tens
of thousands of activists.
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- "It allows us to be in touch instantly with activists
all around the country and the world. It's a tremendous democratic tool,"
he said.
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- Hundreds of thousands of Americans and millions more
in cities around the world have taken to the streets in a series of demonstrations
over the past few weeks.
-
- However, the latest polls show a substantial but not
overwhelming majority of American voters support President Bush on Iraq.
Surveys suggest that around 35 to 40 percent of the electorate opposes
the war.
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- A Time/CNN poll conducted Feb. 19-20 found 54 percent
said the United States should use military action to remove Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein. The number was down 5 points from two weeks before and
at its lowest level since last November. Thirty eight percent said they
were opposed.
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- Pollster Jennifer Laszlo, a Democrat who has recently
conducted four focus groups, said support for the war was soft and opponents
were far more intense in their views than many supporters.
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- "Republicans think this is America's war but Democrats
more and more see it as Bush's war and they are getting more energized
and more angry," Laszlo said.
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