Posted on 02/15/2003 9:05:36 AM PST by Pokey78
Millions of people worldwide are joining in demonstrations against a possible US-led war against Iraq. Hundreds of rallies and marches are taking place in up to 60 countries this weekend.
Crowds have been gathering in London, where a rally culminating in Hyde Park is expected to draw more than half a million protesters.
Massive demonstrations - a day after UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix issued a largely positive assessment of the UN's disarmament process in Iraq - are also being organised in Rome, Berlin and New York.
Tens of thousands of people braved bitter weather to converge on the German capital from the east and west of the city.
Along with France, Germany has been one of the most vociferous opponents of war with Iraq.
The BBC's Ray Furlong in Berlin says a real cross-section of people are taking part in the demonstration - young students, families with children, as well as pensioners - reflecting the strong anti-war feeling that runs right through German society.
And demonstrators in Paris are preparing to march on the city's traditional rallying point - the Place de la Bastille.
Some of the first protests on Saturday were seen in New Zealand, as environmental pressure group Greenpeace flew a plane over Auckland harbour trailing a banner reading "No War, Peace Now".
About 5,000 marched through Auckland and a similar number in the capital Wellington.
Rallies are being held in several cities in Australia, where a protest in Melbourne on Friday drew a crowd estimated by organisers at 150,000 - the largest there since anti-Vietnam War marches 30 years ago.
In Seoul - capital of South Korea, one of the staunchest US allies in Asia - hundreds of demonstrators rallied, shouting chants such as "Bush, Terrorist!" and carrying banners urging "Drop Bush, not bombs".
Celebrities
In London, organisers are confidently predicting the country's largest anti-war protest.
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has suffered a fall in popularity following his staunch support of US plans to launch military action against Saddam Hussein.
"We believe that the London demonstration will be one of the biggest and the most pivotal because the British Government is actively involved in the build up to war and the British people definitely do not want war," said Stop The War UK leader Andrew Murray.
Speakers at the rally in Hyde Park include Charles Kennedy, leader of Britain's second-biggest opposition party and US activist Jesse Jackson.
In New York a protest is scheduled to start at 1200 local time (1700GMT) near UN headquarters - the currently scene of intense diplomatic discussions following Friday's report by Hans Blix.
Celebrities and activists such as Susan Sarandon, Danny Glover, South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu and black activist Angela Davis will be attending the demonstration.
And they be joined by some families of the victims of the attack on the World Trade Center, marching as "9/11 Families for Peace."
Say it with flowers
Anti-war activists in Turkey are calling on fellow citizens to simultaneously turn off all lights at 2000 local time (2200 GMT) as a novel sign of support for anti-war sentiment.
In Malaysia - a predominantly Muslim state - hundreds demonstrated outside the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur bearing banners and placards with slogans such as: "No war. Stop US aggression" and "No more blood for oil".
And in Thailand about 2,000 people - mostly Muslims - rallied in front of the US and UK embassies in the capital on Saturday.
Protests of varying sizes were also reported in: Japan, Nepal, India, South Africa, Cyprus, Spain, Syria, Egypt and Iraq.
The tiny South Pacific island nation of Fiji also saw its share of anti-war sentiment, with an anti-war group sending floral messages to foreign embassies urging them to put pressure on the US and its allies to avoid war.
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The US was never loved. Until WW II it was safe to ignore America. Following WW II America could not be ignored and the hatred of America has grown as America has grown rich and powerful. America will never be universally loved, but it sure will be respected!
Thousands gather for an anti-war demonstration on first avenue on New York City's East Side near United Nations (news - web sites) headquarters in New York City, February 15, 2003. Tens of thousands flocked to the huge rally against a possible war with Iraq, after a New York judge denied organizers a permit for a march through the city's streets citing security concerns. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
Richard W.
I thought 'Hate' was not a family value ???
They fought a civil war against the LEGAL government of Yugoslavia and klinton helped them win!!
During WWII the croats were WILLING and HAPPY to be allies with Hitler....they had a concentration camp called Jasenovac wher 800,000 Serbs, Gypsies(Romas) and Jews were murdered. The Croats deny this!!
Certain Croatian sports heroes, have just lately called hitler a great leader and nazi Germany a well organized place!!
After their latest victory against the Serbs and the nation of Yugoslavia, they marched into Zagreb with arms raised in a hitleresque salutes!! UGH!!!!
What nerve they have to protest against the USA....they are the NEO-FASCISTS of the Balkans!!
They're supportive of the warmongering by the Palestinians and North Korea.
Most of us are impatient, and I'm sure we'd be in there today, if it had been possible. I don't think we will have to wait too long, in any event.
Right
Otherwise, you can bet the rent, world opinion will change the course.
It already has, to some extent, but the composition of our enemies and their enablers could have been pretty well predicted quite some time back. Will this kind of political theatre cause us damage? Only as much as we will let it, and I don't intend to be someone who is inclined to give these lemmings any help.
Your opinion don't matter. World opinion will.
Personally, I don't give a rats ass about world opinion, but It will have an effect.
Everything does, and we will deal with it as we go.
You can deal with it. I find it very tiresome and not to America's benefit
If I had it my way, I would pull our troops out of all countries and turn American into a country with real borders and and put America first for a change. Screw these nations that hate us. Let's keep our food and our money right here.
And if I had my way, there would be a Viper in the driveway and my wife would be a former centerfold;
Mine is centerfold material, and no I don't have a Viper, that would be a waste of time, but I do have a crazy Akita and a black faced German Shepard that would play tug a-war with a stupid snake. I protect my personal borders, to bad our leaders are more concerned about other nations borders, than our own. We will pay a dear price for this.
neither one of us is going to get our wish. Listening to Rumsfeld, etc., it sounds like we may be seeing something you and I would both like better than the recent status quo, at least as far as troop deployments of the future. I agree that the borders are problematic at this time, but setting up a Maginot Line on the Rio Grande and a Siegfried Line from Lake Superior to the Pacific would not be in our own best interests either. As far as the rest of the world, not only George W,. Bush, but people like you and me are going to keep a list of countries naughty and nice. I can't remember what I had for lunch last week, but I can damn sure remember that France, Germany and Belgium bought us more trouble than they were worth. I'm all for making it here and keeping it here- if other nations want to make self-sufficiency more attractive to Americans, they are doing us a favor.Whatever....
Being dependant on these nations will eventually paint us into a corner. A corner that we do not want to be in. It will only get worse. Most countries want to see us on our knees. Bet on it.
Yeah, brother! Amen! The penis envy some of these nations have for Uncle Sam is something to behold, yet there are still twits here who think we can reason with Americophobes like rational adults. Tell me this... don't you think we are just about through being dependent on some of these people anyway?
No, I don't. To much UN globalony BS going on. Not to America's benefit, and it never has been.
In the last few days, I have heard some surprising voices being critical even of the Almighty Most High U.N., and I'll wager some of today's photo-op discontent is fanned by the same crowd that has vested interests in Rockefeller's Tower of Babel. I think that the Security Council circus has been a good example of solar disinfectant, regrdless of how the decrepit parts of Europe intended it. We are - today - moving farther from atrophied, European socialism than we were a year ago, and that is a good thing.
Do you really think we are going to bail out of the leftist, communist UN? I think not.
I say, turn our front door into a freaking gun port.
Starting at the family level.
No, starting at our bleeding borders would be a little more appropriate at this point. Unfortunately that aint going to happen either, so I will just continue to protect my own personal borders and in my own little way, will refuse to contribute to this anti-American, one world order, global UN, bull sh*t.
More comic relief:
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