Anti-war protests: JustMe was in deep coma

Submitted by Wild Wild West (Sweden), Mar 18, 2006 at 16:44

(JustMe, you said: "I can't speak for the UK, but there were not millions of protesters in the U.S against the Iraq war as you stated. This is a purposeful mischaracterization by you to desperately prove your point. If you dispute this, please post where these protests in the U.S. took place. I am aware of a few small protests.")

JustMe, where have you been in 2002 and 2003? Have you started following world affairs only after the cartoons were published ? You 'can't speak for the UK', where the biggest rally protesting the Iraq war took place, which was attended by by 2 million poeple?!! Didn't you know that Guiness Book of World Records listed the protests against Iraq war on 15 November 2003 as the largest protest in human history? You must have been in mother's womb or in deep coma in 2003, and neither newspaper nor television reached you at that time. Considering that, as per your request, I am giving you some information on the protests:

- On 15 February 2003 alone, Millions of people protested, in approximately 800 cities around the world. Listed by the 2004 Guinness Book of Records as the largest protest in human history, protests occurred among others in the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, the United States, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Syria, India, Russia, South Korea, Japan, and even McMurdo Station in Antarctica. The largest demonstration this day occurred in London, where 2,000,000 protesters gathered in Hyde Park.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protests_against_the_2003_Iraq_war)

Protests in USA:

- On January 16, 2002, more than 200,000 Americans protested against the war in Washington, DC.

-On October 26, 2002 over 100,000 people took part in a protest in Washington. 50,000 people took part in a demonstration in San Francisco.

- January 18, 2003 in San Francisco, between 150,000 and 200,000 people attended the demonstration.

- Largest war rally was in NY, some estimates point to upwards of 250,000 in a single event.

These are some examples, go to the related websites and you'll get to know about more anti-war gatherings throughout USA.

(http://www.answers.com/topic/protests-against-the-2003-iraq-war)


Invasion of Iraq was also condemned by Christian Churches, including the Pope himself:

-On September 13, 2002, US Catholic bishops signed a letter to President Bush stating that any "pre-emptive, unilateral use of military force to overthrow the government of Iraq" could not be justified at the time. They came to this position by evaluating whether an attack against Iraq would satisfy the criteria for a just war as defined by Catholic theology.

- The Vatican came out against war in Iraq. Archbishop Renato Martino, a former U.N. envoy and current prefect of the Council for Justice and Peace, told reporters that war against Iraq was a "preventative" war and constituted a "war of aggression", and thus did not constitute a just war. The foreign minister, Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, expressed concerns that a war in Iraq would inflame anti-Christian feelings in the Islamic world. On February 8, 2003, Pope John Paul II said "we should never resign ourselves, almost as if war is inevitable."

-Both the outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, and his successor, Rowan Williams, spoke out against war with Iraq.

-The executive committee of World Council of Churches, an organization joined by churches with a combined membership of between 350 million and 450 million Christians from over 100 countries, issued a statement in opposition to war with Iraq, stating that "War against Iraq would be immoral, unwise, and in breach of the principles of the United Nations Charter."

I hope you will find the above information useful.

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