New Haven Independent

As others waved placards and as motorists honked in support at an anti-war rally Tuesday afternoon at the corner of Church and Chapel streets, Carol Wade (pictured above) was tying bright squares of paper to little plastic soldiers from the dollar store. On the paper were the words, “Bring me home!” She planned to leave the soldiers in various places around town for people to find. She learned about the project at a church conference. Wade hoped the graphic depiction of a soldier holding a gun would bring home the reality of the faraway war and help others decide to become more active in ending it — a war that President Bush’s military advisers say can’t be successful for at least another year. Click here to listen to her views.

The action was organized by New Haven people through the on-line activist group, MoveOn.org. It was called a people’s filibuster to coincide with the threat by Senate Republicans to filibuster a bill that calls for withdrawing troops from Iraq beginning within 120 days.

Anna Mauhs of Hamden was there with her five-year-old daughter (pictured). She said she responded a few weeks ago to an appeal by MoveOn to host a party as a way to build support for the group’s key issues, and that she hopes her daughter will inherit a peaceful world. Click here for her explanation of how she became an activist.

Karl Chiaro (pictured) came down from Meriden for his first demonstration. He said he’d been writing a lot of letters to government officials but felt he needed to take another step to oppose the war. Click here for his thoughts.

The email word on the demo was sent out just one day in advance by Fair Haven Heights resident and MoveOn.org activist Lori Martin. (Prompted by MoveOn, she hosted a potluck dinner at her home on July 7, to watch the Democratic candidates’ responses to citizens’ concerns about global warming.)

“This is a citizens’ counter-filibuster,” she said, “to counter the filibuster that the Republicans are trying to delay the vote on setting a timeline to get out of Iraq. Most Americans want us out of Iraq - they want us out responsibly and reasonably - and I want to them know we’re not going to let it [the filibuster] happen silently.”