The St. Louis Instead of War Coalition, which last year made a point of picketing the local offices of two Democratic members of Congress, plans today to protest outside the Clayton office of Sen. Christopher “Kit” Bond, R-Mo.

The aim is to mark Wednesday’s anniversary of “the end of the fifth year of the U.S. war in Iraq,,” the group said in a statement.

The protest  begins at  4:30 p.m. and continue to 6:30 p.m.  The plan is for protesters “to stand in a two and half block line between Bond’s office at the corner of Hanley and Bonhomme and a Boeing subcontractor’s office in the 7700 block of Forsyth..”

Said the group in a statement: “With this action, (the coalition) is calling for a halt to all funding for the war, except for funds to withdraw U.S. troops immediately. Once the withdrawal is complete, the group will call on the U.S. government to contribute to the reconstruction of Iraq through international organizations, under the direction of Iraqi citizens.”

Similar activities are to take place in other cities, including Washington, DC.

“In St. Louis, participants will hold 100 signs displaying a $500,000 bill - the amount of campaign contributions Senator Bond has received from Boeing and other military contractors.

“All St. Louis area members of Congress receive campaign contributions from Boeing and other military contractors. Senator Bond has received more than all the (other) members of Congress combined,” the coalition said..

The protesters “will also display 100 flow charts representing the billions of dollars that Senator Bond and other area Members of Congress have approved for Boeing weapons systems and for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Presently, the U.S. government is spending $12 billion dollars a month on these wars, with the total spent in the last five years approaching $1 trillion.”