Massive World Protests Tomorrow

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by Big Crunch
I was sorely tempted to go along, just to see the crowds.

I suspect that was the motivation for many.

The tourists in Greece probably thought it was a conga line and all joined in.

[Uncle Sparky]

About 5000 of us rallied & walked in Winnipeg. I suspect if it wasn't -15C with a wind chill there would have been more.

I hope that all Americans see that they are contibuting significantly to world unity - everyone is getting tired of their sabre rattling !!!

[Asher]

Originally posted by Frogger
What have you been smoking?

Plus, the old codger just deliberately hamstrung the military by announcing he'd be sending a battle group to Afghanistan for a year.

He's not saying anything to avoid annoying the Bushies.

http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/PEstory/TGAM/20030125/UCANAN/International/international/internationalAmericasHeadline_temp/3/3/8/

[KrazyHorse]

? That's from a month ago.

[KrazyHorse]

Since then Chrétien has said several times both that he won't go without the UN or that he might go without the UN.

I defy you to find a definitive quote either way.

And since then, the PM has muzzled our defense minister when he ran his mouth off, and not muzzled bill graham when he's run his mouth off about not going to war without the UN

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Frogger
I defy you to find a definitive quote either way.

His genius is that he seems to be unintelligible which is a definate plus if you want to keep your options open.

[KrazyHorse]

Exactly.

And even more of an asset when the US acts like a whiny ***** about anybody who disagrees with them.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Frogger
Since then Chrétien has said several times both that he won't go without the UN or that he might go without the UN.

He made a slipup, that's obviously the direction he's going in.

He's just buying time trying to be Canadian by being anti-American. It's an old trick that Canadians as a whole have used since the beginning of time...

[KrazyHorse]

Hah. On that one you're sadly mistaken. If he wanted to score points by being antiamerican he would have to say something understandable about the situation.

His deliberate silence is an obvious avoidance of the negative consequences of saying no to the US right now.

And the fact that 4 Liberal MPs voted for the BQ/NDP motion to outlaw war with Iraq without UN backing might tell you something about which way the party is pressuring him to go.

[Asher]

And the fact that 4 Liberal MPs voted for the BQ/NDP motion to outlaw war with Iraq without UN backing might tell you something about which way the party is pressuring him to go.

Only four? This definitely tells me which way the party is going, and it's going to be right into Iraq.

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Frogger
Hah. On that one you're sadly mistaken. If he wanted to score points by being antiamerican he would have to say something understandable about the situation.

Is that even possible? I heard he was even more unintelligible in French than he is in English.

[axi]

The numbers are the most probable estimates, picked from police, organisers and media. In ROme the number fro mthe organisers is 3 million, the 2 million are from the police. The NYC number is organiser estimated, based in the number of blocks covered (59) and a standard police estimate of at least 7.000 people per block.

More numbers:
Newcastle: 18.000-20.000 (police)
Cape Town: 5.000
Johannesburg: 10.000
Durban: 3.000
Trondheim 11 000
Amsterdam: 65.000-80.000
Gotheburg: 25.000-30.000 (police)
Stockholm: 22.000-25.000 (police)
Malmoe: 5.000
Bern: 30.000
Warsaw: 10.000
Vienna: 20.000-30.000
Zagreb: 10.000
Helsinki: 15.000
Turku: 5.000
Budapest: 20.000-50.000
Canberra 16,000
Hobart 15,000
Lismore 7,000
Perth 30,000
Sofia 2,000
Copenhagen 10,000
Cairo 2,000
Stuttgart 50,000
Dublin 100,000
Tokyo: 25.000
Seoul 10,000
Auckland 10,000
Wellington 7,000
Gaza 15,000
Manila 6,000
Moscow 1,000
Algeciras 15,000
Andalusia 20,000+
Cadiz 100,000
Ferrol 15,000+
Huesca 5,000+
Lugo 12,000
Malaga 50,000
Oviedo 200,000
Las Palmas 100,000
Santander 35,000
Seville 250,000
Damascus 200,000
Bangkok 3,000
Pattani 10,000
Istanbul 5,000
Kiev 2,000
Glasgow 61,000
Bergen 8000
Stavanger 5000
Tromso 3000
Montreal 150.000

and

Baghdad 100.000

[MOBIUS]

Originally posted by Velociryx
Well, in any case, I'd hardly call them massive. Even the best estimates of the organizers were 3 million people, world wide, with police and other authorities claiming about half that number. Given the total population of the nations participating in the festivities, it amounted to little more than a p*ss in the proverbial pot.

-=Vel=-

I think you fail to understand the magnitude of the crowds...

Apparently the crowd in London is supposedly the largest one here since VE Day

Today was a cold day by London standards with a minus windchill factor and yet this huge crowd STILL turned out - the warmongers ignore this massive public opinion at their peril...

Plus that figure doesn't count the HUNDREDS of other protests up and down the country.

The reason for this war is unjust, it will only become just when used as a last resort - and not as a first resort as the americans intended!

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by Asher

Only four? This definitely tells me which way the party is going, and it's going to be right into Iraq.

How many voted for the CA motion on Iraq on the same day, sweetheart?

4 MPs breaking with the party on such a definitive motion is very important.

The party as a whole is comfortable with not saying yes or no until it's too late to say yes...but if there's any discontent with that position it's from those who want to side with France, not those who want to side with the US.

[Agathon]

The organisers at the Toronto protest claimed 80,000. I think this is way off the mark. I estimate about 40-50,000 based on the size compared to the last one (10,000 or so). Osweld is right: a lot of people left during the march because it was absolutely freezing.

Anyway, at a guess I'd say this is easily the largest world wide protest in history, and for those that think its a "p*ss in a pot" as someone said, I'd remind you that the actual protests are usually just the tip of the iceberg.

If the London protest got about 1.1 million (which seems a reasonable figure since the police apparently only counted those on the actual march and not those who came by other routes to the rally, that is about one-fiftieth of the population of the United Kingdom.

Take away most of the children, the elderly, those who couldn't be there for other reasons, and those who couldn't make the trip to London, and that's an absolutely huge protest. The biggest in British history no less.

The pro-war side took a beating at the UN yesterday and an absolute hammering today. The anti-war position is not merely that of the socialist workers, anarchists, et al (who were in a distinct minority today much to their chagrin) but of the majority of the world's citizens. There is no silent pro war majority, I'm afraid.

So suck it up - if you want war, almost no one else does. Them's just the facts.