I'm here because the soldiers need our support over in Iraq, and people that were protesting yesterday, they weren't acting like true Americans.  And they're giving their lives over there for freedom and for the Iraqi people so that they can have democracy. And they need all our support, all of it.

Question: Did you see those folks yesterday?

I can't believe the non-American language that was coming from them.  It was awful.  I had tears in my eyes because I couldn't believe that people would support terrorism.  That's basically what they're doing.  They're giving the terrorists the wrong message, that we're not...united.  I'm glad everybody came today.

Question: Why are there more of them than people here today?

I think a lot of the groups that were there yesterday were just--  most of them were people that don't even know what they were there for yesterday.  There was a couple of people I talked to yesterday and I said well why are you even here.  They didn't know what was going on in Iraq...  They didn't even know why we're in Iraq, and they do not support Americans.
 

Ron Pobieglo:

The thing that motivated me to come down here was when I found out about the CODEPINK operation up at the Walter Reed hospital, the fact that they had coffins on the sidewalk and signs on the fences saying you were maimed for a lie and basically demonstrating in a venue where our wounded guys have to see that thing coming and going.  I thought that was most [in]appropriate.  I have no bone to pick with people demonstrating.  However I don't think those guys need any more trauma than what they already have.  They've seen their buddies die; they've lost limbs, they're recovering from [inaud.] wounds, and they really don't need to be the focus of political actions.  And that's what motivated me to come down here at all.  

So we get down here for the counter-demonstration yesterday and it was kind of overwhelming to tell you the truth.  It was a very emotional thing and there was a whole variety of people there.  There were some people there that were misguided.  They think that by supporting the troops means getting them out of there, not understanding that the propaganda they create can actually increase our casualties by encouraging the enemy.  But so some people were misguided.  Some people were doing it more by deliberation.  Some people had no clue why they were there other than to have a venue to act out against authority.  A lot of young punks running around in black outfits with masks over their face--had nothing really to say other than to be there and to give people the finger and that was it.

Question: You're a veteran?

Yeah, I served 23 years in the Air Force.  I actually went including Vietnam so all this kind of has deja vu ring to it to me.  My son's got a website up in Alaska called Security Watchtower, and he categorizes pretty much the good things that are going on, the progress that's being made in the war that you don't read about in the mainstream media.  And he kind of motivated me a little bit to get interested in that too.