WASHINGTON - The path from the National Mall to the Naval Yard was filled with a marching infantry - 200,000 strong - armed with banners, puppets, drums, newspapers and an array of clever pro-peace and anti-Bush chants. Since the Pentagon's top-secret plans to formulate a war on Iraq leaked to the press last year, there have been massive demonstrations across Europe, student peace groups emerging and an overwhelming doubt surrounding the idea of war. A former U.N. weapons inspector became an icon for the anti-war movement and questioning Republicans have taken out newspaper ads urging the president to use proper restraint.

The anti-war movement is no longer just for radicals. Though the sectarians were out in full force Saturday, the dominant vibe was that of a genuine belief that this war is wrong and not just party-line rhetoric. In contrast, the small counter-protest was uniform, whose only point was that all 200,000 of us, as well as the other thousands of protesters in Tokyo and San Francisco that also marched that afternoon, were supporting the terrorists and should all swim to Cuba.

Right, all the World War II, Korea and Vietnam veterans marching for peace, the thousands wielding American flags and several members of Congress were simply just being unpatriotic. And people say that it is the Left that is running out of ideas.

Saturday's demonstration was a pinnacle in a rising opposition to the war in Iraq being mounted by people from all over the world from different political walks of life. The march on Washington was united, and it will only be effective in actually making political change if it remains so. The questions that it is faced with are how to preserve the unity.

The Question of ANSWER

The main organizer for this march was the coalition known as Act Now to Stop War and End Racism. Sounds innocent enough, however, a closer look at this organization is frightening. Founded days after Sept. 11, 2001 by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, it acts as a front group for a hard-line Stalinist group, the Workers' World Party. Among other outrageous beliefs, the party has expressed support for the genocide under Slobodan Milosevic, the massacre at Tiananmen Square and the tyranny of the current North Korean regime. Like the University's own political cult, the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action and Defend Equality By Any Means Necessary, it makes any practical and level-headed activist want to a keep safe distance. However, like BAMN, ANSWER is extremely organized and effective in bringing adequate turnout and doing the grunt work that makes events like this actually happen. And like the conflict with BAMN, no alternative organization has as loud a voice.

On Saturday, several student anti-war groups gathered in front of the Supreme Court for a separate march that would later join the rest of the protesters walking towards the Naval Yard. Even though their hearts were in the right place and their consciences were opposed to ANSWER's dogma, their numbers and impact were dwarfed by the intensity of the rally on the mall.

Therefore, it makes more sense for the anti-war movement to stay away from the idiotic and mindless teachings of the Workers' World Party, but utilize their strengths and resources if any alternative network of activists fail to gain the same amount of enthusiasm.

And many activists already believe this. Many of the students in front the Supreme Court agreed that though ANSWER's core ideology is repugnant, as one organizer put it, "solidarity is the most important thing."

Ramsey's Return

District of Columbia Police Chief Charles Ramsey may still haunt some IMF/World Bank protesters dreams. At the anti-globalization protest last September, under his orders, Washington police hogtied hundreds of activists for several hours, making very little distinction between who was committing a crime and who was lawfully dissenting. And before this Saturday he made it clear to the press that he was ready and willing to do the same, even though there are lawsuits still pending against his department. On Saturday, however, we learned that it was just an idle threat.