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Anti-War Demo's
February 15th, 2003
Report From London, UK
by Peter Garratt
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Eyewitness: Report From London, UK
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I decided to go to the demonstration because I was increasingly convinced that the degree of force being planned to acheive a regime change was too great. I think what actualy tipped the scales was an article I read stating that the US military were planning a preliminary strike which would involve substantially more bombing than the last Gulf War. I came to this decision slowly, having supported the US-led action against the Taliban and Al Q'aida in Afghanistan. However, there are significant differences this time:
- The link between Saddam and Al Q is very tenuous. No doubt they communicate and might co-operate if their backs were to the wall, as Churchill did with Stalin. However their stated aims are both different and incompatible. Painting them into the same corner is surely less effective than dividing them
- Regime change itself is not totally unacceptable. Western people, but not Western governments, applauded when the Vietnamese removed Pol Pot. No one objected when neighbouring countries forced out Idi Amin. However there are many other oppressive regimes at the moment. In Zimbabwe the regime stands accused of starving thousands of opponents to death, but Zimbabwe has no oil, and it's all our leaders can do to organise a cricket boycott
- Further, the nearest example to Iraq of Western-style democracy is the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where the election of Sharon and America's support for him is a continuing insult to the credibility of every Arab who had ever advocated moderation
- Weapons of mass destruction do not justify the invasion on the ground. If they exist they can be picked off from the air. (I did support Israel's destruction of the Iraqui nuclear reactor.)
- Bush's refusal to accept Kyoto leads to the obvious but probably true conclusion that oil plays too big a part in his calculations. But Kyoto or something much stronger is absolutely essential
- Lastly, Bush needs to be reminded that he was NOT elected. He used dishonest judges appointed by his relatives to prevent a recount (standard in this democracy) and transfer power from the voters to his own backers. (Yes, the oil industry.)
I was thus mentally prepared for marching when I was informed by Helen, who is even more convinced of the above case than I am, that she had a bad foot, and that I must therefore be her deputy or avatar on the march.
I had work committments in the morning, and didn't make the start at the Embankment. I reached Victoria after 2 and took the tube to Green Park. There, the march was going past in full flood, filling the road. Someone behind me kept shouting 'It's a big one!'
Not having a banner or a group to march with I stood and watched. The marchers were a very mixed bunch. As has been reported, I think the majority were ordinary people who don't demonstrate often. The Socialist Worker Party was out in force, but only a small proportion carried SWP placards. (Their usual tactic is to bring lots of handy-sized placards and hand them to anyone who will take one.) There were a lot of placards from the moderate Muslim Association of Britain, but most (about 90%) of the demonstrators weren't in Islamic dress. Most of the placards came from the march organisers, though others were hand made, or were traditional banners from Trade Unions CND groups etc. , or hand made. Time travellers were present: I saw one 'No Poll Tax' banner.
I joined in and we moved fairly quickly toward the park. I will say this for Blair (though perhaps Major deserves some of the credit) that the demonstration didn't have the tense feeling I remember from a big CND rally against Thatcher's policy in the '80s; no circling aircraft, no feeling that MI5 or private security organisations might be spying on us.
A lot of people were carrying the Mirror's 'Make Love Not War' cover. The first statue I noticed as we approached Marble Arch was of a man who seemed prepared for either: he was completely naked but armed with a large sword.
The polis presence was low-key and helpful: as I approached the park they removed some barriers and increased the flow of people getting in there. I saw no incidents between polis and demonstrators, or any other incidents.
In the park I saw a fabulous construction, more like a large kite than a banner, of an American eagle with Stars and Stripes wings, the globe in its claws, and a doll in its beak. If there had been a prize for best banner, this one would have won both workmanship and artistic impression.
The crowd was very large. I heard someone say: 'Even the BBC are admitting it's a million'. The organisers claimed two million from the stage. I don't know how anyone could know for certain, but I agree with Ken Livingstone's comment that Bush/Blair policies had brought about 'the biggest demonstration in two thousand years of British history.'
The last advertised speaker (I gather Ms Dy-na-mit-ee entertained the crowd later) was Jessie Jackson... a good move, as it firmed the demonstration as anti Bush 'n Blair rather than anti-American. He took as his text the passage from the Book of Isiah which ends with 'I shall study war no more'.
I started to leave at that point. I anticipated difficulty and delays in getting that number of people out of London, and it was getting cold.
At the edge of the crowd, I realised that the procession was still coming in. Thus far I had only seen a few yellow 'Lib Dems against the war' placards, but to my delight there was a long section where they predominated, at least a hundred placards I would say.
Outside I found the flow of people was as great as ever. After the Lib Dems came Plaid Cymru banners and beautiful Welsh dragons, then a mixed section. I reached Green Park again and they were still coming. I stopped there for half an hour and saw the very end go by at five twenty-eight. There were home-made banners, (Regime Change Begins at Home was my favourite) organisers' placards, trade Unions (Unison Gateshead Health Branch; MSF Oxford Publishing Branch) and a lot of traditional banners from Labour Party constituencies and branches.
What was the moral of the day? I can't help comparing it to the CND demo I joined over the same route many years earlier. The speaker who got the biggest applause that day was Blair's predecessor Neil Kinnock. Blair stood for parliament twice under him, and twice under M Foot. To get into power he twisted his party out of all recognition. He's trying to take issues like Iraq right out of contention. He's linked himself to an extremist who stole his own election. Many of the people who marched yesterday will have been there that earlier time, but the majority were not. They were just people who were fed up with voting for one thing, and getting something else.
– Peter T Garrett
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