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Wow, that's an amazing number of people. Let's just hope that the message gets through now.
Posted: 19:41 Feb 15 2003
Make Tea, Not War
Today's anti-war march through London was estimated by the organisers to have attracted over 2 million people. The police estimate 750,000. As usual the truth will be in the middle, so I'd say 1.5 million is a fair estimate.
So did anyone else go? It was a truly excellent demo, the biggest the country has ever seen even by the Met's conservative figure, and there was a truly powerful vibe in the air (not to mention the ubiqutous smell of weed
). The passion of feeling on display was plain to see, and many of the banners were really creative: among the best were "Son of a Bush", "Drop Bush, not bombs", a brilliant and quite obscene take on noddy (Blair), Micky Mouse (Bush) and some very dubious interaction between them (!), a wonderfully incongruous axe-with the CND symbol and the word "Peace" on it and the sureal and oh-so-British "Make tea, not war". I got to Hyde Park in time to see Ken Livingstone speak (a surprisingly powerful indictment of US and British hypocricy over Iraq) and Rev. Jessie Jackson, a very commanding speaker indeed (even if he did go on a tad ). It's fair to say protest has never been more alive; everyone from octoganarians to kids in prams were there. There was the inevitable protest bathos on display of course: the best moment was when some protesters chanted "1 2 3 4, we don't want your stupid war, 5 6 7 8 ..." then suddenly realized they had nothing to follow up with! They could be heard muttering "Urm, how about 'No more fighting, no more hate?' 'Nah, that's pony.' " 
But good as it was, hopefully there won't need to be another one.
(Edited by Byron 15/02/2003 19:33)
So did anyone else go? It was a truly excellent demo, the biggest the country has ever seen even by the Met's conservative figure, and there was a truly powerful vibe in the air (not to mention the ubiqutous smell of weed
). The passion of feeling on display was plain to see, and many of the banners were really creative: among the best were "Son of a Bush", "Drop Bush, not bombs", a brilliant and quite obscene take on noddy (Blair), Micky Mouse (Bush) and some very dubious interaction between them (!), a wonderfully incongruous axe-with the CND symbol and the word "Peace" on it and the sureal and oh-so-British "Make tea, not war". I got to Hyde Park in time to see Ken Livingstone speak (a surprisingly powerful indictment of US and British hypocricy over Iraq) and Rev. Jessie Jackson, a very commanding speaker indeed (even if he did go on a tad ). It's fair to say protest has never been more alive; everyone from octoganarians to kids in prams were there. There was the inevitable protest bathos on display of course: the best moment was when some protesters chanted "1 2 3 4, we don't want your stupid war, 5 6 7 8 ..." then suddenly realized they had nothing to follow up with! They could be heard muttering "Urm, how about 'No more fighting, no more hate?' 'Nah, that's pony.' " But good as it was, hopefully there won't need to be another one.
(Edited by Byron 15/02/2003 19:33)
8 Replies and 1061 Views in Total.
Posted: 19:41 Feb 15 2003 Well if not what else is there that we can do, about a 35th of the country's population went down to london for this and that's just the kind who fell like demonstrating. Strangely enough the number of people at the demonstration is roughly equal to the amount of people in favour of war, and yet we still go in.
by Lori
Wow, that's an amazing number of people. Let's just hope that the message gets through now.
Posted: 11:42 Feb 16 2003 
At the end of the day, the politicians will do what they want to do no matter how many marches there are and protests to the contrary.
And I can see both sides of the argument.
And I can see both sides of the argument.
Posted: 11:46 Feb 16 2003 
As evidenced by the upsurge of public anger against the Poll Tax in 1990, this is not always the case. And the anti-Vietnam War protests in the 1960s can be argued to have had a powerful part in ending the conflict.
by Whistler
At the end of the day, the politicians will do what they want to do no matter how many marches there are and protests to the contrary.
And I can see both sides of the argument.
Up to 2 million people on the streets of the capital city is going to put enormous pressure on any politician in a democracy, and it can only give momentum to those who oppose Blair within the Labour party, knowing they have so much public support. I genuinely believe mass protest can make an enormous difference, and yesterday unquestionably moved the strength of anti-war feelings onto the national agenda with a real force.
Blair can still try to ignore those feelings, but the more people who protest, the stronger the hand of the opposition becomes.
Posted: 18:42 Feb 16 2003 
Well, having seen the latest information on ananova and bbc news, it looks like Blair is very much ignoring the public opinion, and is effectively saying "You don't know what you're talking about" and continuing anyway..
I feel that if Mr Blair follows Mr Bush much further, then when Mr Bush falls, he will follow right behind him..
I feel that if Mr Blair follows Mr Bush much further, then when Mr Bush falls, he will follow right behind him..
Posted: 19:13 Feb 16 2003
My favourite banner was mildly rude, but my second favourite was 'Drop beats not bombs' 
Posted: 11:21 Feb 17 2003
It was great to see all of the anti-war protests around the world--including here in the U.S. I don't think people like Bush are inclined to listen to public opinion once they've made up their minds. But the more people there are registering their disapproval, the better chance to at least slow things down and maybe put the brakes on. Many people in the US are now saying, "Not so fast. Do we really HAVE to do this?" As people think about it more and realize all of the negative ramifications--the civilian loss of life, the enormous cost, destabilization of the region, what happens afterwards, and on and on, they're questioning the rush to war.
I think British opposition is key though. I'm amazed that Tony Blair continues to back Bush so strongly although the overwhelming number of people in Britain seem to be against participating in this war. If Britain suddenly said no, because Tony Blair's position was no longer tenable because of public opposition, it would make it harder for Bush to go ahead. Not impossible, but harder. Britain's change of heart would be a huge public relations blow for Bush and his war--and it would make a lot of the Americans who support the war say, "Well, if the British aren't going to take part, maybe we should rethink out position, too." I think the fact that the British public does not support the war is already a tremendously sobering revelation to a lot of Americans.
Sometimes I do think this war is a train out of control racing down the track, and that no one can head it off. But until the fighting actually starts, I still hold out hope that something can to prevent it.
I think British opposition is key though. I'm amazed that Tony Blair continues to back Bush so strongly although the overwhelming number of people in Britain seem to be against participating in this war. If Britain suddenly said no, because Tony Blair's position was no longer tenable because of public opposition, it would make it harder for Bush to go ahead. Not impossible, but harder. Britain's change of heart would be a huge public relations blow for Bush and his war--and it would make a lot of the Americans who support the war say, "Well, if the British aren't going to take part, maybe we should rethink out position, too." I think the fact that the British public does not support the war is already a tremendously sobering revelation to a lot of Americans.
Sometimes I do think this war is a train out of control racing down the track, and that no one can head it off. But until the fighting actually starts, I still hold out hope that something can to prevent it.
Posted: 12:43 Feb 17 2003 
My particular favourite. I missed the speeches as I got to Hyde Park at 5! Hey-ho...
by Byron oh-so-British "Make tea, not war"
(Edited by Opiumia 24/02/2003 14:19)
Posted: 14:18 Feb 24 2003