Anti-war demonstrators gather in front of the National Gallery in London's Trafalgar Square.
Anti-war demonstrators gather in front of the National Gallery in London's Trafalgar Square.
Six months after the invasion and prompt occupation of Iraq, the world opinion is turning more and more vocal in its opposition to the US and the naive belief of the Bush administration that the whole world must become subservient to its commands.
Not able to handle the occupation of Iraq, the US government has been desperately to entice, bribe, force other countries into sending THEIR people to replace the American occupation forces in Iraq.
Among them is even Poland (itself once occupied briefly by Germany and then for four decades by the Soviet Union) finally enjoying the pleasures of having its soldiers help occupy another country. Mongolians are being trained by the US for the same purpose, along with a handful of other virtually unheard-of and pathetically irrelevant countries.
Millions of people worldwide who demonstrated last winter against the then approaching US war on Iraq have realized the uselessness of their efforts: their governments did not listen, and its leaders - such as Britain's Tony Blair, Italy's Berlusconi etc. have supported the US war against the wishes of their people. So much for democracy.
Now, with the situation in Iraq becoming more and more deteriorating and with the US occupation forces under constant attacks by the natives, people across the world are starting to demonstrate in the streets against the US continuing occupation of the country.
It has also become apparent that the US war on Iraq was made on false pretenses and the case for war was built on lies. The former NATO commander Wesley Clark has severely criticited Donald Rumsfeld and declared his intention to run against Bush in the next presidential elections.
This weekend at the end of September 2003, thousands of protesters demanding an end to the occupation of Iraq took to the streets in London, Athens, Paris and other cities around the world, chanting slogans against the United States and Britain.
London's was the biggest protest, drawing 20,000 people. Demonstrators turned out in a dozen other countries, including South Korea and Egypt.
"No more war. No more lies" proclaimed a banner pinned to the pedestal of Nelson's Column in London's Trafalgar Square, where demonstrators rallied after a march through the city. People of all ages, from gray-haired couples to toddlers in strollers, joined the orderly stream of protesters marching from Hyde Park.
"I don't believe the war with Iraq was right and the proof is we haven't found any weapons of mass destruction," London protester Emma Loebid, 20, said. "I think they should hand Iraq back to the Iraqis and get the troops out."
Some 3,000 people marched in Paris, where a wide banner read, "American Imperialism: Take your bloody hands off the Middle East." Others held posters that read "Wanted: George W. Bush --War Criminal."
Protests were also staged in Greece and on island of Crete, outside an American naval base at Souda Bay.
In Spain, thousands of people carrying anti-war banners, banging drums and wearing white smocks marched through the streets of Madrid, Barcelona, Seville and Malaga. "Oil kills," read a banner in Madrid.
In Warsaw, 100 young people protested the Polish military presence in Iraq, marching with banners saying "Down with the global U.S terrorism" and "We don't want to occupy with Bush."
An estimated 1,200 demonstrated in Brussels, while about 400 people marched through downtown Berlin. In Stockholm, police said about 250 people staged a demonstration.
Opposition to the war has always been strong in Britain. Several large peace protests were held during the war, though none matched a huge rally on Feb. 15, before the conflict began, when between 750,000 and 2 million people marched through central London.
Now, questions about Prime Minister Tony Blair's tactics in trying to win public support before invading Iraq have left his government struggling through its worst crisis. A new poll taken Sept. 11-16 and published Saturday in The Financial Times found 50 percent of those questioned said Blair should step aside.
Copyright 2003 West-Art, Prometheus 89/2003