Wade Fulmer, a veteran and anti-war activist who lives in Columbia, forwarded these thoughts about a group calling itself Gathering of Eagles:

I think this group might also be called Gathering of (swiftboat) Eagles. We will not be intimidated but WILL continue to voice our message to take care of the troops, to end the war of lies. In that Charlotte peaceful people vigils have also have been swooped down upon by these creatures, I expect we’ll see them here too soon. Be Safe, Be True, coordinate as needed and call law enforcement when their threatening “gatherings” occur. I found it not unexpected to find them in DC doing their dirty work, but a new low in their attacks on soldier care advocates at Walter Reed during a vigil on Friday night, Sept., 14. And, along the march route to the Capitol on Saturday. We shall continue our Peace and Care good works for our soldiers and families.

“The work of righteousness is peace… ”Isaiah 32:16. 

Take Care out there people.
– Wade 

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Anti-Anti-War Protesters: Gathering of Eagles Feather Their Nest With Padded Numbers at Anti-War March

Despite the massive crowd of as many as 100,000 protesters from as far away as Peru and the 175 arrests for civil disobedience, the mainstream media, including CBS TV news and Yahoo Internet news, reports of the on the Sept. 15 Anti-war march focused strangely on the anti-anti-war protest group, A Gathering of Eagles. Both Yahoo and CBS‚ on-site reporters (though we have no confirmation that the version of the story that ran was the one being taped, or on which station the report was to be broadcast) cast the flock of rabid pro-war hecklers as a group of over a 1000 dedicated vets and other concerned “patriots” who showed up to out-shout the rally of anti-war rally of thousands of concerned individuals attracted to Washington by dozens of organizations and disorganizations, such as A.N.S.W.E.R., Code Pink, the World Can’t Wait and Iraq Veterans Against the War.

Rumored to be funded by wealthy GOP donors and right-wingers, The Gathering of Eagles did indeed field a healthy contingent of veterans in various semblances of patriotic/militarist garb and biker outfits. At one point the Eagles gathered along the sidewalk areas of three very long blocks behind barricades and heavy police security, though at no point did they appear to be more than one deep along the fence. At another highly visible area nearer the Capitol, they stood stretched turkey-neck thin tormenting the crowd gathered near the Code Pink bus on the final approach to the Capitol building.

Typically their flag-wrapped tactics ranged from blaring horns and whistles, to bleating insults. Anti-war marchers were belted with a strikingly limited variety of bellowed barbs centering on homophobic and racist remarks, along with predictable profanity laden challenges to the courage and loyalty of the marchers. Whether the Eagles gathered were vets or not, they could be depended on to insult the anti-war protesters patriotism and call them unworthy of expressing opinions about the current war if they had not served in the military. Protesters who had served in the military were either summarily dismissed or further barraged by calls of “traitor.”

The fury with which the Eagles attacked the marching protesters frequently drew in the marchers and their police protection had to step in between the two groups often. Repeatedly the Eagle war-hawks harassed passers-by with clear intentions of provoking altercations and in numerous sadistic assaults they sank their claws, so to speak, into women and “ethnic-looking” protesters. More than one Eagle taunted that the marchers should be sent to Guantanamo Bay.

More interestingly, however, was the strangely inflated media estimates of the number of the flocked birds of prey. Perhaps a part of the reason for mainstream media inflation was the fact that rather than staying in their assigned protest area, many of the Eagles were stalking their prey. While there were, undoubtedly enough Eagles on hand to torment the gathered doves, a closer look at photos of the Eagles suggests that many of the best tormentors were moving about through their ranks, scurrying up and down the two block area designated for their protests to maximize their offensiveness.

True, the Anti-war protesters were marching and thus presenting a moving target and, given that they had thin ranks and ample police support (plus supposed prior experience with marching), the better trained Eagles were working their crowd, keeping the venom brisk and the tension high. One might even wonder considering the energy and flair of their performances if this cryptic passage from the mid-August posting of the GOE III Update requesting donations so: „we can start making deposits to the companies we will be contracting with,‰ was referring to the hiring of acting troupes, instead of acquiring activist troops.

Tellingly, The Gathering of Eagles website calls to action for the counter-demonstration against the A.N.S.W.E.R, et al Anti-war suggested that aggrieved vets from previous wars could at last exact their revenge on the protesters gathered in DC from around the country to demonstrate against the current war. “I vowed then that I would not allow the anti-American left to do to this generation of servicemen and women what they did to the Vietnam veterans: Deny them the victory they earned on the battlefield by destroying morale on the home front. We cannot allow Congress to repeat the betrayal of the Vietnam era.” The website proclaims and it may be possible that some of the contingent did finally get some relief from 40 years of stored up vitriol, but judging from the twisted looks and twisted logic coming from most of the pro-warriors, that wasn’t likely.

In the end, given the sheer number of recurring ferocious figures along side the barricades Saturday, Sept. 15, one is reminded of slogan proudly, though incomprehensibly, displayed on the Eagles’ website masthead. The banner proclaims in a quote by Ross Perot that “Eagles do not flock, you have to find them one at a time.” Given the merciless way these so-called patriots attacked their fellow citizens, then the statement must have been true and these folks must have been not eagles, but vultures.

Mikel Weisser teaches 8th grade social studies on the west coast of Arizona.