The St. Patrick's Day parade in South Boston is a visual and auditory spectacle celebrating the city's Irish and American heritage and draws a huge crowd from all over the city. Every year, Veterans for Peace requests to be included in the parade, and, regrettably, is refused by the Boston City Council. And so, following the official parade, Veterans for Peace has had its own, unofficial, parade. This year, perhaps inspired by the disastrous state of affairs in Afghanistan and the increasing potential for military action against Iran, VFP had its biggest parade ever with several thousand marchers, a duck boat, and two activist street bands. One these bands, the Leftist Marching Band, hails from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and I am proud to be a part of it.
While men and women of good will and intelligence might perhaps have disagreed about the Afghanistan war in 2001, that war has seemingly become an endless string of tragedies, capped most recently by the murder of Afghan children by an American soldier. Whatever one may have originally thought about the war, it is ever more clear that the war will end badly for America -- and, tragically, even worse for Afghanistan.
The St. Patrick's Day Peace Parade, while devoted to a serious purpose, was also great fun. And received enthusiastically by the good citizens of Boston. If the sentiment of people along the parade route is any indication, Boston supports peace. Watching carefully, one could even detect the furtive gesture of support from the Boston police, deployed in remarkably --and, it would seem, unnecessarily-- large number for an event dedicated to peaceful action. Hopefully, the Boston City Council took notice.
While men and women of good will and intelligence might perhaps have disagreed about the Afghanistan war in 2001, that war has seemingly become an endless string of tragedies, capped most recently by the murder of Afghan children by an American soldier. Whatever one may have originally thought about the war, it is ever more clear that the war will end badly for America -- and, tragically, even worse for Afghanistan.
The St. Patrick's Day Peace Parade, while devoted to a serious purpose, was also great fun. And received enthusiastically by the good citizens of Boston. If the sentiment of people along the parade route is any indication, Boston supports peace. Watching carefully, one could even detect the furtive gesture of support from the Boston police, deployed in remarkably --and, it would seem, unnecessarily-- large number for an event dedicated to peaceful action. Hopefully, the Boston City Council took notice.
