Washington, March 19 (RHC)-- Peace activists have organized four days of anti-war events across the United States to protest Washington’s military intervention in other countries. The organizers have planned rallies, cultural programs and teach-ins to draw attention to U.S. military interventions.

The events, which are dubbed "Spring Rising," are being held to mark the 12th anniversary of U.S. invasion of Iraq. They are being staged from March 18th to the 21st in Washington, DC and several other cities around the country.

Cindy Sheehan, whose son, U.S. Army Specialist Casey Sheehan, was killed in the Iraq War, told reporters: “Spring Rising is intended as an anti-war intervention into the world capital of war-making.” She went on to say: “The U.S. has spread its military across the globe and is engaged in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and, via drone strikes, in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. The U.S. government is provoking Russia in Ukraine and Eastern Europe, pushing for another coup in Venezuela and expanding its military presence in Asia and Africa."

Protest organizers say that the U.S. and its allies invaded Iraq in March 2003 under the pretext that former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. In October 2004, however, a CIA report revealed that Saddam did not possess any weapons of mass destruction at the time of the invasion.

The activists emphasized that the U.S. occupation of Iraq was conducted in a lawless way, and set the stage for the rise of the ISIL terrorist group.