Santa Barbara Activists Protest Possibility of War with Iran

Chris Lang using a bullhorn to rally dozens of people outside the Santa Barbara Courthouse with signs and chants to protest U.S. aggressions with Iran and asking passing cars to honk for peace. (January 9, 2020) | Credit: Paul Wellman

About 50 Santa Barbarans commanded the sidewalk outside the county courthouse to demand peace, while a bipartisan vote in the U.S. House of Representatives invoked the War Powers Act in an attempt to limit the president’s ability to start hostilities in Iran. Chanting “No War with Iran” and singing lyrics to “Give Peace a Chance,” the gathering elicited supportive honks from end-of-the-day drivers headed down Anacapa Street. Anti-war protests have broken out across the United States in the wake of the U.S. assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani by a drone strike in Iraq on January 3. Widely expected and announced retaliation by the country thus far have been limited to the shelling of U.S. bases in Iraq — with 80 casualties reported by Iranian media and zero by the U.S. military — and what is reported to be the downing by Iranian missiles of a Ukrainian commercial aircraft leaving Tehran airport on Wednesday.