War looms amid all protests

The world witnessed one of the biggest protests in the modern history as several millions took to the streets in mid February protesting a potential aggression against Iraq. Meanwhile, America and Britain seemed set to go to war. By the time this publication went to press, analysts estimated that war was set to happen in mid March.

Alternative correspondent in Glasgow wrote that three main protests were organized in the United Kingdom in the cities of London, Glasgow and Belfast. Glasgow's demonstration witnessed more than 80,000 protestors in what was described as the hugest demonstration ever in Scotland. In London police estimated the number of protestors at around 750,000, but organizers said this number reached as many as 2 million people.

In England, several people were participating in a protest for the first time. When asked about the reasons behind their demonstration some said that they feel like they were on "a roller coaster (sliding toward a war on Iraq) at the time we don't want to be on this coaster."

"The world is going crazy," Emily Cochrane, a housemaid from Newcastle, told Alternative. "If Tony Blair commits the UK to war with Iraq, he would be alienating many of his own backbenchers, his party, even ministers in his cabinet - not to mention voters," she added.

Blair had a word in Glasgow in which he tried to make a "moral case for war" saying, "I do not seek unpopularity as a badge of honor but sometimes it is the price of leadership and cost of conviction."

In Melbourne, Australia, the demonstration was entitled "make love not war." The timing was almost perfect, 5pm, the busiest time of the week as workers, employees and students prepare to leave the city to the suburbs.

But on this day people interrupted their trips off the city as some 100,000 people lined the streets of Melbourne. The number was so huge that surprised everyone including the organizers.

People of all ages, ethnic, economic and political backgrounds gathered to voice what has been coined "not in our name" in reference to their opposition of the Prime Minister's unilateral support of the American policy regarding Iraq.

Everyone here noticed that the decision to send Australian troops to the gulf was done without the mandate of the parliament or the senate. "The decision was solely made by the governing federal party, the Liberal Party, and specifically led by its protagonist John Howard," according to John Creeks, an IT worker at Superlimbo Groups.

"I had never seen a gathering of so many people in all my life. At first it was almost overwhelming, leaning to claustrophobic. I looked around me since this was all I can do, as I was literally trapped in my spot, with nowhere to move and as far as the eye could see, were anti-war and anti-American banners and slogans," he told Alternative.

The Melbourne rally speakers included members from the organizers, Peace Network, and some of Australia's leading political opposition figures. The speeches were short and to the point. "This war is for oil. This war is unjustifiable and even though it is supported by the government, it has no backup from the parliament, the senate or the public," said one of the speakers.

The number of people at the protest was a logistical nightmare. When it was time to actually march, it was physically impossible. The problem was that people were already backed up to the point they were expected to march to.

In Beirut, two demonstrations marched to downtown city in protest of the looming war on Iraq. The first one, organized by pro-government factions, gathered some 3, 000 people who marched from the Barbir area to the Riad Solh Square.

Demonstrators who carried pictures of the Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, Iraqi and Palestinian flags and anti-American slogan included parties such as the Bath, the Syrian Social Nationalist, and the Progressive Socialist Parties. It also included the People's Movement, officials from the Lebanese Communist Party and Nasserite organizations.

From the Mathaf area, another demonstration gathered some 1, 000 protestors mostly from leftist groups, communist party opposition and Greenpeace.

Demonstrators here marched under the slogan "no to war, no to dictatorships." In Damascus, some 200, 000 protestors marched to the American embassy to protest war chanting anti-American slogans while raising pictures of Syrian President Bashar Assad.