Thousands protest NATO, war in streets of Chicago

Thousands protest NATO, war in streets of Chicago

Associated Press

CHICAGO

Thousands of demonstrators upset with the war in Afghanistan, climate change and the erosion of union rights marched through downtown Chicago today, taking their discontent on a wide range of issues to world leaders assembled for a NATO summit.

The protest, one of the city’s largest in years, was to end at the lakeside convention center hosting the two-day meeting, which is focused on the war in Afghanistan, European missile defense and other international security matters.

Some participants called for the dissolution of NATO, the 63-year-old military alliance that is holding its 25th formal meeting in Chicago. It was the first time the gathering was held in a U.S. city other than Washington.

“Basically NATO is used to keep the poor poor and the rich rich,” said John Schraufnagel, who took a bus from Minneapolis to Chicago to take part in the march. Since the end of the Cold War, he said, the alliance has become “the enforcement arm of the ruling 1 percent, of the capitalist 1 percent.”

Peace activists joined with war veterans and people more focused on the economy for the protest. Marchers assembled at Grant Park with signs denouncing NATO, including ones that read: “War(equals)Debt” and “NATO, Go Home.”