Atlantans to mark sixth year of Iraq War
Thursday, March 19th, 2009
Today marks the sixth anniversary of the Iraq war. Since it began on March 19, 2003 the war has cost the United States more than $600 billion dollars, with an estimated $440 to $865 billion expected to be spent in the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
President Barack Obama calls for 127,000 troops to remain in Iraq until the end of this year, and for 50,000 troops to remain at least until the end of 2011.
More than 4,250 American troops have died since the start of the war, and another 36,000 were wounded. For Iraqis, the toll has been much higher, with an estimate of more than 91,000 Iraqi civilians killed. What’s more, water in Baghdad is still mostly undrinkable.
Today in Atlanta there are several events to mark the anniversary. At 3 p.m., there will be a forum at Georgia State University in room 24 of GSU’s Aderhold Learning Center at 60 Luckie Street. Speakers include Iraqi native Raed Jarrar, a war expert, and Jason Hurd, the southeast regional director of Iraq Veterans Against the War. At 5 p.m., there will be a march led by veterans. The march will leave Woodruff Park at 5 p.m. and end at the CNN Center. The day will end with a free concert at 8 p.m. at Metropolitan Warehouses, 675 Metropolitan Parkway (fishmarket D-125) with music by Futureshock, the Black Pockets, Contraverse and the Wild.
(Photo by Joeff Davis)
POO-POO TO YOU: On Garson Drive, a 29-year-old woman said she left her apartment at 9:05 a.m. to go to work. She said when she opened the front door, she found a bag of dog waste sitting there. She said the bag of dog waste wasn’t there when she came home the night before. She wanted a police report, just in case the dog waste incidents continue in the future.
CARBONATED REVENGE: A woman said someone poured soda all over her car and left a note, while it was parked at Peachtree Center. The note read: “Dear Asshole, I listened to your piece of shit alarm going off all day yesterday and today and I’m sick and tired of it. Either get it fixed or park somewhere else.” The woman said her car alarm did have a problem.
DRUNK and CHATTY: Around midnight, a 28-year-old man was kicked out of a bar on Roswell Road for allegedly trying to fight with the bar owner and employees. Outside the bar, the man reportedly told a police officer, “You’re not a cop, you’re a fucking pussy,” and “You’re a fucking coward,” and “You’re a fat piece of shit.” The officer told him to leave. Another man on crutches apologized for his friend (the cursing man) and said they would go to the corner to wait for a taxi. A few minutes later, a taxi pulled up but apparently the cursing man didn’t get in. “I heard [him] yell ‘motherfucker’ and charge at me with both hands clenched in a fist,” the reporting officer wrote. The man allegedly collided with the officer and tried to hit him. After a struggle, the officer arrested the man. Meanwhile, his friend — the man on crutches — hobbled up to the officer and asked what he could do to get the officer to drop the charges. Nothing, the officer said. The friend said the officer should just let the man go, because he is a “drunk white kid and that’s what they do.” The officer wrote, “I am currently unaware of any statute in Georgia Law that permits you to attack a Law Enforcement Officer, or any person for that matter, based on your sobriety or race.”
HERE COMES SANTA CLAUS: A suspicious package turned up at the Central Library downtown. The reporting officer wrote: “The witness [Mr. Santa Claus] noticed a black backpack left unattended for over one hour in front of the library.” The witness named Santa Claus is a 57-year-old man, according to the report. The officer evacuated the library and set up a perimeter around the suspicious package. A SWAT team and firefighters arrived on the scene. “The item was determined not to be a threat,” the officer wrote. Eventually, the backpack’s owner showed up and claimed it. “Inside the suspicious package were clothes and miscellaneous items, which were returned to him,” the officer wrote. The owner said he put the backpack down so he could smoke a cigarette — then he walked to Broad Street to get something to eat. He said he had planned to return later for his backpack. Police declared the area safe, and people were allowed to re-enter the library.
(NOT QUITE) HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS: A 41-year-old man said he rented a U-Haul truck and picked up a man known as “Carwash” on Boulevard. He said Carwash was going to help him move. According to the man, he parked the U-Haul and went inside his apartment, leaving Carwash — and the car keys — in the U-Haul, which was running. As he walked back outside, he reportedly saw Carwash driving away in the U-Haul. The man doesn’t know Carwash’s real name. The U-Haul truck was reported stolen.
SANTA’S SNACKTIME? A 22-year-old woman said she returned from a weekend getaway and realized someone had been inside her apartment on New Town Circle. The suspect(s) reportedly broke a rear window to get inside. “It appears that they sat on [the woman's] couch and ate several of her Hot Pockets and Chips Ahoy cookies,” an officer wrote. According to the police report, 12 cheese Hot Pockets were gone, along with five packs of Chips Ahoy cookies. Nothing else was reported stolen.
WEIRD WEB: A woman said she got into an argument with her ex-boyfriend, nicknamed “Spiderman.” She said her ex-boyfriend got mad because she wouldn’t give him any more of her pain pills. She said he pushed her out of her wheelchair, twisted her arm, and slapped her face. The incident reportedly happened in a parking lot on Decatur Street. Apparently, her ex-boyfriend fled before police arrived. She said “Spiderman” wore a black shirt and dark-colored jeans with spider designs. (He is 30 years old.) Medics took her to Grady Memorial Hospital.
PLEASED TO MEAT YOU: At a grocery store on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, an employee said a man put several sausages in his handbag. Police searched the 57-year-old man and allegedly found 11 smoked sausages (worth $40). He was arrested for shoplifting.
HAUNTED HEAD? At a cell phone store on Peachtree Street, the manager called police and said a strange man refused to leave and demanded a replacement phone, but he had no ID. Police officers found the man down the street. The man “apologized and thanked us several times, but continued to back away,” the officer wrote. Police eventually caught him and pepper-sprayed him. “As we were trying to apply restraints [the man] tried to bite our hands …” an officer wrote. “[The man] made several rambling statements about being a minister, playing for the Cowboys, being friends with [Dallas Cowboys quarterback] Tony Romo, and stated he was going to bring us lobsters.” Police found three small baggies of suspected marijuana in his pockets. The man, age 22, went to jail.
THE SKY IS FALLING: At Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, a California man said he was looking at an arrival/departure screen on Concourse B, when something struck him in the forehead. An officer investigated and determined that the object that hit the man was a small, white, round object. It apparently fell from a light fixture above him. The man complained of a forehead injury and medics treated him. He refused to go to a hospital because he had a flight to catch.