200,000 MARCH AGAINST BUSH IN LONDON

The Mirror, UK ^ | 11-20-03 | By Naveed Raja

[Oldeconomybuyer]

A massive demonstration against George Bush drew up to 200,000 marchers on the streets of London today.

Organisers of the march, ending in a rally at Trafalgar Square, said the number was a record for any weekday protest in Britain.

With a huge police presence the Met reported no incidents of violence and the march passed off peacefully.

"This phenomenal response shows the depth of feeling of the British public towards this visit," said a spokesman for the Stop The War Coalition.

The march started near Euston Station and went past the House of Commons and Whitehall before finishing at Trafalgar Square.

When the march passed Downing Street anti-war protesters booed and jeered at Bush and Blair inside number 10.

A huge papier mache statue of Bush was hauled down by protestors in Trafalgar Square in protest at the Iraq war.

Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic, on whose life the film Born on the Fourth of July was based, was the guest of honour.

Other speakers at the rally included former leader of the SNP Alex Salmon and Labour MPs Jeremy Corbyn and Alice Mahon.

Former Labour MP George Galloway spoke to the crowd and described the march as "unbelievable".

He said: "This is the largest march on a midweek day that this country has ever seen - it is absolutely overwhelming.

"We're speaking for the majority of people in the world who want Bush out and who want Blair out."

"Tony Blair added insult to injury by bringing this ignorant, foolish and dangerous man to these shores and I think we are speaking for the majority of the country."

Caroline Lucas, of the Green Party told the crowd: "The eyes of the world are on Trafalgar Square today. We are making history."

[joltinjoe]

Now stand back and Imagine....This is almost as many bodies as they have found in mass graves in Iraq.

[Timesink]

No, the number is not correct. The Mirror is viciously anti-Bush and anti-Blair, and has a vested interest in inflating the number.

But hey, let's pretend for a second that the number is correct. Then let's put it in perspective:

Number of protesters in London today (according to The Mirror, anyway): 200,000

Number of people that showed up for the Simon & Garfunkel Reunion Concert in Central Park in 1981 or '82 or whenever: 500,000

[dougherty]

The eyes of the world are on Trafalgar Square today. We are making history.

Dream on, leftie. The eyes of the world today are on Michael Jackson and the terrorist bombing in Turkey.

[F.J. Mitchell]

"We are making history."

Surely she meant to say making hysteria.

[F.J. Mitchell]

"We are making history."

Obviously she meant to say making hysteria.

[Callahan]

In a just world, every single one of them would be time warped back to Saddam Hussein's Iraq to experience what their now defending. I hear he had a knack for crowd control.

[TomB]

Why, there must be 50,000 in that photo alone!

I counted 50,004.

Imagine the SMELL!

[1Old Pro]

200,000 marchers

First, it must be new math as the real number is 20,000. Either that or a typo :)

Second, they aren't "marchers", they are pro-terrorists.

[sharkhawk]

drew up to 200,000 Well 35,000 is under 200,000, so I guess they didn't really lie.
In other news up to 200,000 people came to Sharkhawks birthday party this weekend.

[jackbill]

ABC radio news at 2:00 reported 70,000.

Sounds like a flop.

[CROSSHIGHWAYMAN]

I never saw any Eurinals march against the Soviet Union.

[william clark]

Maybe there's a big conversion rate for Euro Protesters.

[Snake65]

Sounds to me like anyone who took a step out their door to retrieve the morning paper got counted as a "marcher."

Bollocks!

[Callahan]

I must admit I get a kick out of all the silly puppets and statues. If these clowns spent as much time looking for gainful employment as they do making paper mache effigies, they might actually the healthcare they're always whining about.

[69ConvertibleFirebird]

...drew up to 200,000 marchers...

Hmmm... The other post claims 150,000 marchers. I think it should simply be labeled the Billion Man Pro Saddam March to help legitimize the "Million Man March" numbers.

[T. Jefferson]

5 Billion people around the world stayed at work or home in support of the war on terrorism.

[colorado tanker]

They didn't even come close to filling Trafalgar Square. Poor turnout.

[KellyAdmirer]

I've seen more people at the NYC Post Office on tax day.

[RebelBanker]

A man with an MBA from Yale is "ignorant?"

FYI, the President's MBA is from Harvard, his undergraduate degree is from Yale. Your point was excellent, just need to make sure you keep the schools straight (they get touchy).

[highlander_UW]

They are probably counting the media as part of the crowd. There must be a good 100,000 reporters. Just like the Free Trade protests. There's like 5 or 6 guys in masks pushing towards the police and 40 people climbing over each other to take a picture of it.