CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — On a milestone anniversary of Sept. 11, those opposed to the United State's involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq held a protest in downtown Chicago.
It was a protest and a commemoration of the lives lost 20 years ago and in the wars that followed — lives activists said were lost in vain.
Long-time anti-war activists like Andy Thayer attended. Thayer opposed the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.
"It's a somber day because, apparently, this country has learned very little since then," Thayer told WBBM Newsradio.
He said that 9/11 ushered in a large-scale loss of civil liberties signed into law with the USA Patriot Act.
Thayer organized a protest against the war in Iraq in March 2003, which led to more than 500 people being arrested on Lake Shore Drive.
"If we don't examine what it is the United States is doing in terms of attempting to control huge areas of the world for the last half-century, then we're just going to have more 9/11's," Thayer said.
The protest contained multiple angles and reflections on the events of 9/11 and its aftermath. Activists grieved human rights violations and condemned U.S. support of Arab dictators. Speakers from the Chicago Area Peace Action, International League of Peoples' Struggle, and the Black Alliance for Peace brought different aspects of the anniversary to view.
Activist Marcia Bernsten, who was one of the speakers, started protesting against wars in the 1960s.
"I think the only thing [the United States] managed to succeed in doing [after 9/11] is creating more people around the globe who hate us," Bernsten told WBBM Newsradio.
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