MichaelMoore.com

Rally cry: Send troops home

By Bill Laitner / Gannett News Service

In a peace rally that organizers called the largest in Oakland County this year, about 300 people gathered Tuesday night at Pontiac Central High School, where they applauded U.S. Rep. John Conyers and shouted again and again, "Support our troops -- end the war!"

U.S. troops should come home from Iraq "as soon as practicable," Conyers, a Detroit Democrat, said before taking the stage of the auditorium.

He said he favors a plan advanced by other Democrats to accelerate the training of Iraq's army so U.S. troops can come home.

The rally was intended to put several members of Congress from suburban Detroit on notice that antiwar sentiment was building, said Michael Carroll, 26, a Grosse Pointe Park native. Carroll is a field organizer for a Washington, D.C.-based peace group called Americans Against Escalation in Iraq.

"We've targeted 40 congressional districts across the country," Carroll said, including Rep. Joe Knollenberg's district, which includes Pontiac.

Knollenberg, R-Bloomfield Hills, has a 7% peace rating based on his voting record, Carroll said. That compares with Conyers' 100% -- the highest in Michigan, Carroll said.

The event drew protesters from across southeast Michigan but many were from Oakland County communities. It was the culmination of a 10-week nationwide campaign of similar protests in the districts of lawmakers targeted for their pro-war views, organizers said.

Dozens of people in the audience held signs that said simply: "Impeach."

Conyers told the crowd he would not hesitate to "use the tool of impeachment" against President George W. Bush if he felt it was appropriate.

Before his talk, however, Conyers said he had no such plans "at this time for anyone. We'd need a lottery to figure out who to go after."