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May. 18, 2007
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Protesters employ monkey to decry Reid's Iraq stance

Group includes woman whose son was killed in war

By MOLLY BALL
REVIEW-JOURNAL

A Capuchin monkey named Hobo holds onto his scooter with a white flag Thursday outside Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office at the federal courthouse in Las Vegas. Hobo was there with the group Move America Forward to support the war in Iraq.
Photo by John Locher.

With a sleepy monkey in a camouflage outfit and white handkerchiefs on flagpoles, a small group of pro-war activists Thursday gathered outside the federal courthouse that houses Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's Las Vegas office, decrying what they said was a policy of surrender.

"Even though my son paid the ultimate sacrifice, I still support the president. I support what we're doing over there, and I support our troops," said Debbie Lee, a Phoenix-area mother whose son, a Navy Seal, was killed in Iraq last year. "I want Harry Reid to hear my voice today. I can't believe he would say we've lost the war. What a defeatist attitude."

The anti-Reid demonstration was organized by a national group, Move America Forward, and most of the protestors were from out of town. They said they wanted to bring their message home to the Nevada Democrat, whose work in the Senate to set deadlines for troop withdrawal they said was irresponsible.

The "surrender monkey" the group used to draw attention to its action was a hired gun -- a Dallas-based performing monkey named Hobo who has appeared on television and in movies. Hobo gripped a miniature white flag and waved it briefly before stopping to gnaw on the dowel.

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    • Reid this week backed a largely symbolic bill that would have required troops to begin pulling out of Iraq within 120 days and would have ended war funding by March 31, 2008. That measure failed, getting just 29 votes. Reid says he hopes to work toward a compromise with President Bush, who vetoed a previous bill that passed both houses of Congress that would have set a timetable to begin troop withdrawal.

    The protesters also were angry at Reid's statement last month that the war in Iraq "is lost."

    Down the block, a similarly sized group of counter-demonstrators gathered. The local anti-war activists and veterans said they supported Reid.

    "My son was in Iraq three times," said Catherine Jackson of Las Vegas. "I thank God he's home now. Enough is enough. We need to bring our troops home."

    Reid spokesman Jon Summers said Move America Forward was mischaracterizing Reid's position. "It's their right to make their feelings known, but most Nevadans agree with Senator Reid that it's time to change course in Iraq," he said.

    The group on Thursday also protested at Reid's Carson City office and at the San Francisco headquarters of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and launched pro-war advertisements on national cable networks.

    Move America Forward's use of a primate to draw media attention also drew criticism from the Humane Society.

    "It's a shame that Move America Forward is exploiting animals to score political points," said Wayne Pacelle of the Humane Society of the United States.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.



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    Steve wrote on May 18, 2007 03:56 PM: Paul...if you were more capable of reading and understanding English than Reid is, then you could read the article and see it is about REID... Not GWB...and I am NOT a GWB lover... I think he's useless...just not as much as a liar like Reid. Reid's EXACT words were "THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE...THE SECETRARY OF STAT...YOU HAVE TO MAKE YOUR OWN DECISION...THIS WAR IS LOST". Get it? THIS WAR IS LOST...HIS EXACT WORDS. Listen sometime instead of listening to the Democrat Party lies and propaganda and CNN (Clinton News Network). Don't be an idiot and liar like Reid....think and listen for yourself for a change.


    paul wrote on May 18, 2007 10:51 AM: Hey Steve - it is evident that you don't understand this is entirely about Bush's lies. Reid's statement if you would have listened to the entire speech was about Bush's lie. Reid's comment was to impress on Bush that his "war plan" was not working and that "it" was lost. He went further to say that there was not a military solution in Iraq, that it was political.

    Your problem is that you have forgotten that your hero "W" claimed the war was over in 2003 and you are right our troops did not lose that war. But you idiots keep calling the occupation of Iraq a war rather than what it is A OCCUPATION and that is lost. There is no military solution to the attacks on our troops in Iraq we need to leave and give them back their country.
    We have lost the occupation because we faile to win the minds of the Iraqi citizens. And that was done because we imediately sent profit makers into Iraq to get rich off of their suffering.

    So yes it is every bit about Bush's lies and his deciet and his and Cheney's urge to make their corporate benefactors rich.


    Steve wrote on May 18, 2007 10:07 AM: rgrbloomfield...this has NOTHING to do with GWB or anything he has said or done (or not done for that matter). The story is about Harry Reid and his blatent lies and his extremely feeble attempts to say people "mischaracterized" what he said. It's on tape...he said it and now he isn't even man enough to stand up for what he said. How pathetic. And then people like you attempt to change the story to GWB. Keep with the story at hand.


    rgrbloomfield@hotmail.com wrote on May 18, 2007 09:10 AM: Surprising that there are still people out there that are stupid enough to support the Bush lie...


    paul wrote on May 18, 2007 08:39 AM: Funny that people take such offense to Senator Reid's statement, after all the Commander and Chief declared the war over in 2003. So how do you lose a war which is over????

    It is evident to anyone who has half a brain that Reid's statement was not aimed at the troops, nor was it a indication that he felt their sacrifices were not honorable. I'm sure anyone who listens to Reid will hear the sincerity in his voice that he supports our brave soldiers.

    What he doesn't support is the direction our failure in chief is taking these brave men and women. He is leading the military into a chasam which is deeper than the one created in Vietnam where thousands of brave soldiers died doing the right thing for the wrong reason.

    All that Senator Reid is asking is that we bring our soldiers home before their pride and integrity is destroyed fighting in a civil war where we can't win because the only solution is between the political factions in Iraq.

    As for he idiots who would show up and protest free speech - they need to support the troops not send them off to die for their beliefs. If they believe so strongly then THEY should be stepping forward and offering to die.


    bruce wrote on May 18, 2007 08:33 AM: How long can Harry Reid hold on to his seat if he keeps leaning so far left to harmonize with the Pelosi crowd and satisfy the Move-On.Org ulta-liberals that he loses all of the moderate Republican cross-over vote that has long held him in office? Certainly Nevadan's want the power and prestige Reid's current position provides, but how much of that power is actually being spent on Nevada rather than on pleasing the California Left lead by the Speaker from San Francisco? As one of those moderates willing to cross party lines for the good of my state and the nation, I feel betrayed and bitter as Reid's once obviously awakward and uncomfortable support of the far left has now grown into a full-on ideological shift so extreme as to make me wonder whether I was blind these past two elections in which I voted for him, or whether Reid really was once far more moderate than his current stance -- which now seems to be far more permanent than it initially seemed. Say it aint so, Harry...


    Steve wrote on May 18, 2007 08:12 AM: How can Reid or Jon Summers be so stupid and ignorant that they claim someone is "mischaracterizing Reid's position" when he stated in plain English "THE WAR IS LOST"? Has Reid been support ILLEGAL ALIENS so much he's forgotten how to speak and understand the English language or is he just blatently stupid? He stated plainly that the war is lost...he used those words...therefore, his position is very clearly that the war is lost and he's given up and once again waiving the white flag. What a total coward and liar he and his entire party are.


    M. Reinecke wrote on May 18, 2007 07:58 AM: Don’t insult the monkey by comparing him to Bush!


    r. steele wrote on May 18, 2007 07:17 AM: That monkey at the end the leash looked so much like our President. Except the monkey knows when it's time to go home.