Mass Anti-War Protests Mark 2nd Anniversary of Attack on Iraq

Around the world, anti-war protests have been held on the 2nd anniversary of the attacks on Iraq [see global pictures].

On Saturday 19th March in London, a massive protest took place, passing by the US Embassy where members of the Military Families Against the War laid a coffin to remember the 100,000 plus dead caused by the war. Organisers claimed up to 200,000 people had marched through the streets of London. [see Short report | Statement to Blair + Bush | Policing Pictures | Anti-war Demo Pics | Samba Protest Pics | Creative Protest Images | Stop the War Demo Pics | Troops Out Images | Portrait Pictures | OutRage! Protest | Samba Surveillance | Policing Pictures + Report | US Embassy Pics | Assorted Protest Pictures | Picture Story | Placard-spotting Pics + Report | Summer of Dissent | Video Clips]

March 19th also marked the start of 'Counter Terror: Build Justice' - an International Month Of Peace Action.

The "Troops Home" demonstration was organised by the Stop The War Coalition, CND and the Muslim Association of Great Britain, and followed several days of activities at a Peace Camp set up in Trafalgar Square [see pics 1 | 2].

Protests also took place in Glasgow, Scotland with around 2000 people demonstrating [see pics and reports 1 | 2] and Dublin in Ireland [see pics and reports 1 | 2 | 3].

Over 50,000 people marched in Brussels against the new EU Bolkestein Directive, proposed new attacks on public services, and labour reforms in a European Action Day that took place just days before the EU summit. There were also anti-war protests in Athens (2, 3, video) Barcelona, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Italy (2), Melbourne (2), Poland (2, 3, 4, 5), Sydney, Johannesburg and many other cities.

Protests also took place in across across the US. See major feature report for San Francisco where over 10,00 people took to the streets - see also New York ( Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 Video: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 ) , Chicago (Photos: 1 | 2 Video: 1 ), and Fayetteville, North Carolina ( Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 ) .

Thousands also took to the streets in Portland (Photos), smaller towns in Oregon ( Photos: 1 | 2 ), Las Vegas ( Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 ), Baltimore (Photos: 1) , St. Paul ( Photos: 1 ) , Boston (Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 ), Houston ( Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 ), Madison ( Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 Video: 1 ), Nashville ( Photos: 1 ), Miami ( Video: 1 ) Atlanta ( Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 Video: 1 ) , Pittsburgh (Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 ), Champaign Illinois ( Photos: 1 ), Cleveland ( Photos: 1 ) , and Milwaukee. Elsewhere in California, thousands took to the streets of Los Angeles (Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 ) and many people from all over the Central Valley gathered in Fresno for "the Rally in the Valley" (Photos: 1 | 2 Video: 1 | 2 ). There was a protest in San Diego (Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 ) and in Eureka, thousands braved the rain to demand an end to the occupation of Iraq and the immediate withdrawal of US troops (Photos). On Friday, there was a protest in Reedley (Photos)

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Comments

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"Organisers claimed up to 200,000 people had marched"

21.03.2005 08:10

More like 40,000. Why do we do this. It just discredits the action.

Realist

definitely over 100K, look at the pic!

21.03.2005 09:30

I've marched in crowds of 35,000 and I've marched
in crowds over a quarter million. That looks like
a high hundred thousand or more to me.

Just look at the pic above these comments.
Guess how many you see before the eye realizes
there's no end in sight to the back of that march.

The little bit of exaggerating in "highballing" that
hundreds of thousands number can be explained in
after protest excitement and ambition. An honest
mistake.

Your 40,000 guestimate verbalized just looks foolish
or diabolical placed right next to that picture.

How do you explain that...

Mark my words,
"2252 U.S. soldiers are dead in Iraq right now; not 1501"

http://dc.indymedia.org/newswire/display/47146/index.php

marco
Homepage: http://www.thepentagon.com/protesting

Sigh

21.03.2005 11:48

OK Marco, it's clearly important to you to think that there were that many people there so we'll say there were.

Realist

Lets put this to rest

21.03.2005 17:44

60,000 is the widely quoted figure for the capacity of Trafalgar Square although it is bigger now since the pedestrianisation on the north end so perhaps 80,000 is a better figure to work to these days.

There was a large area of the square fenced off for construction and also the area used by the stage etc.

The square was NOT full even at the peak. Areas in the south were empty and on the north end aboce the steps there was plenty of space also

It is impossible for there to have been 200,000 or even 100,000 people in the square and even if some people went home before the speeches it still means that the SWP and the STWC are hyping the figures beyond all realistic levels.

Cops put the figure at 45,000 and we know they play down the figures.

As for the photo.. it shows lots of people, but just a fraction of the number present on the march. The photo proves nothing even if you counted every person in the photo it would be nowhere close to 100,000 or even 50,000 as it is just one tiny part of the march.

We can do better than these exagerations.

Iraq is now a free democracy!

21.03.2005 18:46

I don't know why you people still keep on marching. Iraq is now a free democracy, Saddam and his thugs are in the dock and the ball of democracy is now rolling throughout the Middle East. I admit that I too marched on the first two anti-war marches against the war in Iraq, but how wrong we were - Iraqi troops surrendering on mass, thousands cheering as they pulled down statues of Saddam, just three weeks into the war, with the war lasting a mere three weeks. Where were the hundreds of thousands of causalties and refugees, Where was the Stalingrad like battle of Bagdad, predicted by speekers on the march on February 15th 2003?

And shouldn't we keep our troops in Iraq until the terrorist insurgents who are trying to destroy freedom and democracy there and who have killed western civilian workers such as Ken Bigley and Margerat Hassan have been defeated?

ex anti-war activist

Freedom isn't free

21.03.2005 20:27

Remember them, the heroic US and UK troops who gave their lives for the freedom of another countries people

For Iraqi's tomorrow they gave their today

The Decline and fall of the US Empire.

22.03.2005 07:53

Degrees of Freedom will come to Iraq when the last US soldier, and the last CIA goon, leaves Iraq: and then Palastine should move towards freedom, and the rotten degenerate US Empire will decline and fall into the big blue sea

Only then can jews, arabs, muslims, christians, and all races who live in that region live together in peace.

AFKAED

"you cannot hold free and fair elections under foreign military occupation"

22.03.2005 11:07

To our gung-ho trolling visitors, I challenge you to Name That Quote.

(Noam Chomsky? Michael Moore? Some liberal-left-peacenik-do-gooder?)

Sorry, time's up! It was your very own President George W Bush.

So the Commander-in-Chief himself confirms that Iraq is neither free nor democratic.

(He was of course talking about Lebanon, but the same principle must surely hold, otherwise, well gosh, that would make Bush and his supporters utter hypocrites!)

type

Numbers

22.03.2005 11:56

On the issule of Trafalgar square, one of the problems wif TS is that when you get there it looks full really quickly, I think there were thousends of people who didn't wait around there. Also many people went off to catch bues back home. Only a minority ever stays for all the speeches. I'd go for over 100,000. Probally over 150,000. But prob' less the 200,000. If they'd let us have pictures from the police helicopter we could get a better idea!. JK

Erh? 50,000 plus went home?

22.03.2005 21:55

So, lets get this straight - you are saying that the reason that trafalgar square was not even full and that there appears to have been only 50,000 or so people there is actually because another 50,000 or more people thought the square was full or decided to catch a bus home before the rush?

hahahahaaaa

You appear to have forgotten a small detail - like the lines of police accross Pall Mall, Downing Street and the other roads down to Embankment etc. You think they'd let 50,000 people through? "we're just leaving to catch a bus - honest officer"

ha hahaha ha

The cops formed a bottle neck to drive everyone into Trafalgar square when the march arrived. Sure some people left early but not the numbers you are claiming - it's simply impossible.

Face it. There was not 100,000 plus people on the London march. Stop pretending.

somin

Sorry you're just wrong about numbers

23.03.2005 10:30

Yes the march was stewarded into trafalgar saquare, and yes the police had some 'road blocks' but people could move freely. I arrived quite early at the square and sat on the grass outside of the national gallery opposite the church having a picnic lunch (wow what a sunny day!). There was a constant stream of people leaving through the couple of streets I could see. Face it, a lot of people simply do not stay for speeches, it's a fact. A lot of people I know went on the march but left after half an hour in the square.

Re the police figures it's obviously too low. Re 200,000 I think that's too high. In the square I heard 150,000 being announced. To be honest I think it was somewhere between 100,000 and 150,000.

Anyone who agrees with the police figure of around 45,000 is utterly mad!

Pete

Everyone has a voice

27.03.2005 01:08

People are the true leaders in oneness and prefer more kindness in this world than more religion or righteousness of us against them. War intelligent is never above God and flesh and blood individuals nor the constitution. True Intelligent always solves, war War solves nothing. By wisdom and science United Nation would be above NATO. But, big guns have this old familiar story of 10.000 years of such savage history.

From Columbus to todays, the USA has the highest number of genocide deaths in world history. Working locally Texas, the current death penalty Guinness World records holder is George Bush. So just kill them, to prove to us, killing is wrong. Bush with his father working the globally multiplies this hypocritical deaths sentence by killing from 10 on up to 10,000 of their enemies for every one American death. That’s like screwing a whore 10,000 time to turn her into a virgin. Not one Iraq person has been proven of killing an American on any part of America's soil, nor one Iraq person was on any 9/11 crushed plane, yet 15 Saudis were on the planes. Bushes do business with Saudis. So who wins this mess of killing? Increase of guns, bomb builders, lawyers, bankruptcy lawyers, homeless services, mainly white men, the rich and delusional soldiers? Bureaucrat’s who ignore God’s law, over rule our flesh and blood to harm any one person wail being unforgivably. That Leader is no public servant or friend of mine nor the true Jesus.

Do you put your faith, culture and life on the line to have them use wars to protect us, which solves nothing, and it only protects themselves from the the true leaders. If we the greatest country in the world we would not need Government to lead. Popular, like McDonald’s, a War President with a smoke screen religion says war will help the economy.

Paul Dawkins
mail e-mail: paul.dawkins@sympatico.ca