Anti-Gulf War D.C. Protests (1991)

Sat Jan 26, 1991

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On this day in 1991, between 75,000 - 250,000 placard-wielding students, veterans, farmers, and feminists marched past the White House in protest of the Gulf War initiated by President George Bush. The march stretched over a mile long, sweeping down Pennsylvania Avenue.

Chants included “Hey, Hey, Uncle Sam, we remember Vietnam” and “No blood for oil!”. Representative Rangel (D-NY) was the only member of Congress among the speakers there, saying “We have no right to have a Clint Eastwood foreign policy”.

  • protistEnglish
    101·
    1 day ago

    I suppose I’m no expert on this specific conflict, but wasn’t it to stop the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, and ended up being an almost universally acclaimed, highly effective, brief intervention that achieved its clearly defined goals?

    I wasn’t old enough to remember the politics at that time, but I do remember George W.'s invasion of Iraq in 2003, and protested in the streets. That conflict seemed to have no plan or goals besides making money for defense contractors. That conflict squandered any goodwill the US had left on the world stage. I still view it as the beginning of the end of American hegemony.

    • redrum@lemmy.mlM
      4·
      1 day ago

      I would say for most of the coalition countries it was to defend their geopolitical and material interests in the region or those of their allies.

      Btw, according to this 1991 article linked from the Wikipedia, it was also a highly propagandized war in the USA.

    • wildbus8979@sh.itjust.works
      51·
      1 day ago

      You’re forgetting to ask the question, why was Iraq having a beef with Kuwait. If the US’s motives were so pure why did they and the Saudis have to lie to Congress about dead babies in incubators exactly?

      I highly recommend the DW documentary Iraq: Destruction of a Nation