Toting posters and placards that induced shouts, tears and
sometimes even laughs, as many as two million unhappy citizens
congregated in 600 cities and towns across the globe Saturday to
mark the one-year anniversary of ‘Shock and Awe’, the first phase
of the Bush administration’s war on Iraq. A compilation of articles
and photos posted on the website United for Peace & Justice
proves that the anti-Iraq war movement is not just an American, but
a truly global one. Hundreds of thousands took to the streets in
New York, Rome, London, Barcelona, and Madrid, where the blood has
barely dried from the horrific terrorist attacks two weeks ago.
There were New Yorkers toppling a statue of George W. Bush
cradling a dummy missile inscribed with the words ‘U.S. Empire.’
There were Madrile?os holding banners implicating
ex-president and Iraq war supporter Jos? Maria Aznar in the deaths
of their countrymen in the March 11 train bombings. There were two
British brothers scaling Big Ben in London to unveil a ‘Time for
Truth’ sign. There were Iraqis in Baghdad with placards reading ‘No
to American Terrorism.’ There were Hungarians in Budapest forming a
gigantic human peace sign illuminated by candles.
More than 300 organized demonstrations took place across the
United States, ranging in size from a few dozen participants to
crowds that brought the downtowns of metropolises like New York and
San Francisco to a standstill. One thousand protestors even
converged on the Bush family’s ranch in Crawford, Texas to voice
their disdain for the president’s politics.
— Jacob Wheeler
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March 20: The World Still
Says No To War
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