PORTLAND, Ore. — Growing tensions in the Middle East trigger fear and frustration here at home.
Dozens of people gathered downtown on Friday evening to protest this week’s U.S. drone strike which killed one of Iran’s top military leaders, General Qasem Soleimani. The rally was organized by the Democratic Socialists of America of Portland.
Even though Terry Schrunk Plaza in downtown Portland is 2,350 miles from the White House, to those who gathered there on Friday night, that didn’t matter.
“We'll do anything to stop the Trump administration from escalating this into a full-blown war,” said protester Mark McLeod. “I knew from the moment I heard about this last night that this is a terrible, terrible thing.”
President Trump is calling it a victory. The U.S. officially classified Soleimani as a terrorist, holding him responsible for covert operations that killed hundreds of US troops in Iraq after the 2003 invasion.
"Soleimani was plotting imminent and sinister attacks on American diplomats and military personnel, but we caught him in the act and terminated him," President Trump said.
Some fear this week's events will trigger another conflict in the Middle East.
“If we're not out here shouting stuff, who will?” said protester Justin Allen.
Allen joined the Navy after 9/11. Looking back now, he sees the Iraq war differently.
“We just kept sending more and more kids off to die and I don't want that to happen again because this guy in the white house needs a news cycle distraction from all the crimes him and his friends keep committing,” Allen said.
The President responded to similar criticism by saying, “We took action last night to stop a war. We did not take action to start a war."