NATO Protests

With the NATO Summit in Chicago this weekend, I have been paying special attention to the news.  I have been thinking alot about the protests this weekend to be honest they have striked me as a bit hypocritical.

I read an article that explains the violent encounters that have happened so far and while there have been no real riots, there have been multiple violent encounters that seem to have been initiated by the protesters.

This instances include charging police lines, throwing bottles at policemen and slashing the tires of police vehicles.  Interestingly, there has been a great deal of public outrage both on the news and on Facebook about a protestor being run over by a police van.  But after some reseach, I found that the man was trying to swarm a police van to slash it's tires.

What I find hypocritical about the protests is that they are protesting for peace yet doing so with violence. While browsing the interned for photos, I was struck by overwhelming irony. I saw photos of people holding up signs that called for no war, peace and called NATO a "War Machine" along side photos of protesters attacking the policemen who are designated to keep peace.

While I completely understand and accept the protestor's right to march, it makes me angry to think about how wrongly the protestors are protesting.  It seems obvious to me that protests for peace should be peaceful.