Pointing imaginary guns and roughing up “Iraqi civilians”, a group of
antiwar veterans brought the realities of the Iraq debacle to Manhattan,
in a Memorial Day protest that briefly turned the streets of the city
into a combat zone. In “Operation First Casualty,” a
half-dozen members of Iraq Veterans
Against the War employed the tactics of street theater to stage
mini-dramas in Times Square, Union Square and the World Trade Center
site, simulating sniper fire and staging mock arrests of fellow
protesters who portrayed Iraqis. The group plans to take Operation First
Casualty to the streets of Chicago June 17.