Millions Protest Prospect of U.S. War in Iraq

London Turnout Strong as Demonstrators Rally Around the Globe

By: Glenn Frankel

Several million demonstrators took to the streets of Europe and the rest of the world today in a vast and unprecedented wave of protest against the prospect of a U.S.-led war against Iraq.

The largest rallies were in London, Rome, Berlin, and Paris - the heart of Western Europe - where mass demonstrations underscored the wide and growing gap between the United States' Washington and some of its closest traditional allies. But there were also protests in dozens of other cities on five different continents, ranging from Canberra to Oslo and from Cape Town to Damascus, in an extraordinary display of a globally coordinated protest.

Here in London a sea of protesters estimated by police to number more than 750,000 flooded into Hyde Park and clogged streets for several miles on a crisp, clear day, in what observers and organizers said was probably the largest political demonstration in British history. It was aimed not just at President Bush but also at British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has been Bush's staunchest ally in the campaign against Iraq but who is besieged by opposition at home from virtually every part of the political spectrum.

Blair, in a speech earlier in the day, insisted he would stand his ground. But he also said Britain would wait for the next interim report from U.N. inspectors on February 28 before seeking a Security Council resolution authorizing military action.

Nearly one million people came out in Rome, where the Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, has also supported the U.S. position. Between 300,000 and to 500,000 people demonstrated in Berlin; and another 100,000 poured through the streets of Paris. Germany and France have emerged as the most vocal opponents of military action against Iraq.

Demonstrators here sang, chanted, and shouted slogans, carrying flags, banners, and posters, ranging from "Bush and Blair Wanted for Murder" to "Make Tea, Not War". "Tony, Listen to the People", pleaded one poster, while another read: "I'm American and I Care - Please don't think that we are all like Bush." Posters calling for "Free Palestine" were also widespread.

The demonstrators seemed like a cross-section of modern British society. There were entire families - fathers and mothers with small children in tow - and elderly people moving slowly but deliberately on their own. Some wore costumes and some were in jeans. There were veteran activists and people who said they had never been on a march before in their lives.

"We explained to them what this was about and they wanted to come", said Julie Isherwood, whose two 4-year-old twin boys, Jack and Robert, walked alongside her with hand-lettered signs reading "Boys Against War".

Lisa Rosen, a lawyer from New York who has lived here for five years, said she felt a strong sense of anti-Americanism from many in the crowd. "Some of my American friends decided not to come, but I thought it was important to show that you can be pro-American and anti-war at the same time", she said.

Both radicals and moderates shared the speakers platform. London Mayor Ken Livingstone, a longtime left-wing activist, called Bush "a stooge for oil interests" and said Bush presided over "the most corrupt and racist American administration in over 80 years".

"This is a man who has sent his own soldiers to die [but] who got his daddy to get him out of national service", said Livingstone. "Where I come from we call that cowardice." Charles Kennedy, leader of the minority Liberal Democrats, the only mainstream British party to oppose the prospective war, said he was not anti-American but was "deeply worried" by the administration. "Given the evidence from Dr. Blix yesterday there can be no just or moral case for war against Iraq", Kennedy added.

Jesse Jackson, who arrived here yesterday from the United States, said it was not too late to prevent military action. "Turn up the heat", he told the crowd. "I say to Tony Blair, please take a step back from war - hear the voices of Britain. This war may be your legacy, Mr. Blair. Surely this is not what you want."

A beleaguered Blair, speaking earlier to a Labor Party conference in Glasgow, warned that the international community still needed to be prepared to confront Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

"If we show weakness now, if we allow the plea for more time to become just an excuse for prevarication until the moment for action passes then... the menace, and not just from Saddam, will grow", he said. "The authority of the U.N. will be lost and the conflict when it comes will be more bloody", he warned. Blair said demonstrators were expressing an "entirely understandable hatred of war". But he added: "If there are 500,000 on that march, that is still less than the number of people whose deaths Saddam has been responsible for."

In Rome about one million protesters - some wrapped in rainbow peace flags - flooded the city center. In Brussels tens of thousands of protestors braved freezing temperatures and fierce winds. White handkerchiefs were placed in the windows of many homes, stores and pubs in an expression of support.

Patricia Tarabelsi, a 23-year-old American student, said she couldn't help but feel a sense of uneasiness as anti-American sentiment in Europe has intensified. "It makes you feel like your country's a target, and I don't really think Americans back home realize just how angry the world is at us right now", she said.

There were also demonstrations in the Ukraine, Bosnia, Cyprus, Ireland, the Netherlands, Austria, Spain, Greece, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Japan, India, Bangladesh, Hungary, South Korea, Australia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Thailand.

In Baghdad, according to the Associated Press, tens of thousands of Iraqis, some carrying Kalashnikovs, demonstrated in support Saddam Hussein. Our swords are out of their sheaths, ready for battle", read one of hundreds of banners carried by marchers along Palestine Street, a broad Baghdad avenue. In neighboring Damascus, protesters chanted anti-U.S. and anti-Israeli slogans as they marched to the People's Assembly.

About 2,000 anti-war protestors, both Jews and Palestinians, marched in a peaceful procession in central Tel Aviv that lasted for about 90 minutes early tonight. Many waved Israeli and Palestinians flags and carried pictures of gas masks and placards reading "Drop Bush Not Bombs".

"This is part of the war on Islam", said Ibrahim Housseni, 26, an unemployed Palestinian from East Jerusalem. "Why attack Saddam and not Khamenei, Assad, or Sharon?" he said, referring to the leaders of Iran, Syria, and Israel. "They all suppress their people. Bush should not hide his reasons - this war is against Islam and for oil."

"The U.N. report show they [the Iraqis] are not hiding anything", said Yaron Levy, a Tel Aviv restaurant owner. "Bombing a country to get one man is not exactly conventional. This is non-conventional warfare."

A small counter demonstration of about 20 people from the ruling Likud party's youth wing heckled the anti-war protestors, shouting "Saddam is the next Hitler!" and handing out "No War" signs with the "No" ripped off.

An anti-war protest outside the U.S. Embassy in Moscow drew an estimated 1,000 people. Most were middle-aged or elderly supporters of the Communist party, which represents roughly one-fifth of the Russian electorate.

Ludmilla Likhikh, a 52-year-old factory worker, accused the United States of hypocrisy, saying it should focus on disarming itself. "America is looking for arms in Iraq while it has so many of its own", she said. "America is the number one terrorist nation."