Posted on 02/24/2005 6:21:29 PM PST by Former Military Chick
MAINZ, Germany — Thousands of people who gathered Wednesday to protest President Bush as he visited with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder had a few choice words for the president.
Under a light snow, protesters packed a square on Kaiserstrasse in the heart of the government district to object to Bush’s foreign policy. They carried signs and made speeches lambasting the administration on a wide array of issues, from the Iraq war and prisoner treatment at the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the U.S. refusal to sign the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.
“He thinks he is the leader of the world and wants to push his interests and his desires on the whole world,” said Helmut Gross, 49, as he stood holding a rainbow-colored flag that read “Peace.”
Similar flags hung from the dome of the Christus church on the square.
Bush’s first visit to Germany since his re-election gave Gross a rare chance to make public his objections to an “illegal war” in Iraq, Gross said. He drove 300 miles from Bad Tolz to attend the event.
Some Americans who live in Germany joined the demonstration, which local police say was organized by the Berlin-based Achse des Friedens, which translates to “Axis of Peace.”
David Carson, a San Antonio native living in Hanau, told the crowd he was ashamed to be a Texan because of what Bush’s home state has come to represent in the world.
The crowd reacted with cheers and whistles to another speaker who blamed Bush for the deaths of thousands of innocent people in Iraq and other countries.
Wearing a white T-shirt with “Hands off Iran” written in red letters, Frarh Waziri listened from the back of the square. Waziri, an Iranian who lives in Marburg, said she was concerned with increased military presence in the Middle East.
“Democracy with war is a lie,” Waziri said.
After the event, protesters filed out of the square and began a march around parts of the government district not shut off by steel gates and police in green uniforms.
About 7,000 to 10,000 protesters turned out for the event, according to German police on the scene.
Time to speed up US troop withdrawal from Germany. Watch what it does to the economy of these ingrates.
I used to live in Mainz - was stationed there, actually. While the western german cities are somewhat more liberal than those closer to the former iron curtain, they still appreciated what we did to help protect them from soviet aggression, for the most part. There were still plenty of lefties there, though.
....“Democracy with war is a lie,” Waziri said....
...from the people who brought you the holocaust...
Beloved "NLFS* offered an excellent first hand perspective and I know the thread appreicates that.
I just posted ALL the pictures I could find of these protesters.
Now, what is missing? Would it be a wide angle shot, or an overhead shot?
Now ask yourself WHY.
excellent photo's thanks for posting on the thread
Who cares what these bozos think?
Funny how these protesters won't wave a rainbow-colored flag at Bin Laden or Zarqwawi, or any number of 7th-century/James-Bond-villian rejects who have made world-dominance their ultimate woody.
Funny how we got attacked for 8 years under Clinton...no flags or protests against Islamic terrorists to stop the "war".
Funny how we got attacked on 9/11...still no flags or banners stamped with the same tired unimaginative slogans...
Funny how Spain got attacked on 3/11...and the protesters blamed America for making the Muslims mad.
If I had the money, I fly all these enlightened types over to the center of Baghdad and let 'em bad-mouth Bush in front of the Iraqis.
'nuff said...
Sounds like America.
Doesn't look like "thousands" to me.
"....“Democracy with war is a lie,” Waziri said....
...from the people who brought you the holocaust..."
... from the people who brought you Cuba, The Phillipines, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, VietNam, El Salvador, Grenada, Iraq ...
Once again notice the creative camera work. All street level photos taken at close range. It makes it hard to judge the size of the crowd.
(>>> Explains why she ran away to Germany)
The truth is that the War on Terror HAS TO carry on until Islamist terrorists (& protester's) realize WE cannot be beaten, no matter what they throw at us. This may take generations, none of us may live to see it, BUT the alternative "peace-nick's" COWARDLY path of Useless negotiations, appeasement and concessions is FAR MORE likely to contribute, Rather than avert, radical Islam's end goal -- the subversion of our democratic process, national & world economy AND the end of our American civilization.
I saw one picture (obviously before it had been cropped) of a hippy-looking lefty wearing a Che t-shirt. These people are commies, pure and simple, and the press is derelict in not pointing that out.
Sniff sniff.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.