Thousands in Britain protest Bush visit, pull down statue of Bush

[aeon flux]

Pics!

(11-20) 11:09 PST LONDON (AP) --

Echoing the toppling of Saddam's statue in Baghdad (and a little bit of "Goldfinger"), a statue of President Bush was toppled in London today to the cheers of tens of thousands protesting the Iraq war and P.M. Tony Blair's support of the invasion.

...demonstrators marched through the heart of London on Thursday, toppling a 17-foot tall papier mache statue of President Bush to show their anger for the Iraq war and Prime Minister Tony Blair's support of the invasion.

As Bush and Blair vowed "not to flinch or give way or concede one inch" to terrorism in the wake of deadly bombings against British targets in Turkey, protesters said the close relationship between the two leaders made them deeply uneasy.

"We're angry that Bush appears to be leading our country," said marcher Ted Edwards. "Why Blair is allying himself to Bush I do not know."

Many in the crowd said Thursday's bombings in Istanbul, which killed more than two dozen people, strengthened their resolve to oppose U.S.-British policy in Iraq


Bye, George




link1
link2

[info being]

1. Makes me proud

to call myself a citizen of the world.

[LuminousX]

2. Holy Crap

This scares me slightly. I understand Bush is evil... *shudders* We need to make sure he is voted out of office, thoroughly voted out of office.

We need to have a margin so wide that it can't be fudged.

[candy331]

3. He needs to be out of office

and prosecuted too for the damages he has caused to the US world wide.

[aeon flux]

4. some LA Times shots

w/captions

[Say_What]

5. Cool Pix!!

Thanks

[Aristus]

6. To our glorious, wonderful friends on the other side of the pond:

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:yourock:

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

7. Title is "Thousands in Britain..." First line of story is "Tens of 1000's.

Anyone got a figure?

Edit- nevermind...

The march took almost two hours to clear its starting point at the University of London. The Stop the War Coalition, which organized the march, said 200,000 people participated; the police estimate was 70,000.


Big difference in perception there!

[Dead_Parrot]

9. 130,000...

...From a friend who's just got back home after a hard days protesting...

[ConcernedCanuk]

8. Georgie boy ain't too popular in Scotland either I see ! !

. .

An image of U.S. President George W. Bush (news - web sites) (L) and Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites) is set alight by demonstrators during an anti-war protest in Edinburgh, Scotland, to coincide with the visit of U.S. President George W. Bush to the UK, November 19, 2003.

Hmm - wouldn't let me post the link - says "illegal code"

Try this then - clik on the small image -



on edit: nope that didn't work either , can't find it now - sorry

But there ARE other good pics at that link

[Say_What]

11. This musta been at the same bonfire

[Chomskyite]

27. I don't appreciate THAT

Hate Bush's policies all you want. Hate him personally. I care not.

Don't burn the flag my ancestors died for over this, ok?

[Don_G]

32. That's The United Kingdom

It's not their flag as much as it's a symbol of Dimbo printed on cloth. I appreciate someone doing it "there" rather than "here."

[JoFerret]

38. Your ancestors

Your ancestors died for a flag?

[joefree1]

10. "One of the biggest-ever midweek demonstrations"

The protest, which the police say was 70,000 strong and the organizers put at 150,000, was one of the biggest-ever midweek demonstrations in London. The police lined the streets along the demonstration route to ensure order, and succeeded in large measure.
Mr. Bush, who is staying at Buckingham Palace and attended a state dinner on Wednesday night with Queen Elizabeth by his side, is expected to return home on Friday.
Despite gray skies, traffic jams and the demands of the work day, a broad cross-section of people turned up for the march organized by the Stop the War Coalition, which also mobilized a mass protest in February. Grandmothers with canes, parents with children in strollers, high school students, women in business suits, as well as button-bedecked peaceniks gathered elbow-to-elbow in Trafalgar Square to voice their disapproval of Mr. Bush and his administration's foreign policies.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/20/international/europe/20CND-PROT.html?ex=1069995600&en=22ad3a61da3408fa&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Just keeping it real.

For pics of the LA protest against bush go here
http://recallarnoldwatch.org/protest6-27.html

"It's not over 'till Arnold gropes the fat lady" —Bill Press, on MSNBC

http://www.recallarnoldwatch.org

[imax2268]

12. Wow...thanks for posting...

from all the coverage of Jacko on the news today...I almost forgot about those protests...

Salute to our friends across the pond...I don't know if I speak for everyone but...I'm proud...dam proud...

[DoYouEverWonder]

13. Great pics

All least this event was stage by the people, unlike the one the US military faked in Baghdad. Too bad the media will continue to pretend nothing is happening.

[DoYouEverWonder]

14. Here's a few more pics

Enjoy!

[pescao]

15. i hope u dont take the flag-burning too seriously then ;)

it's kind of a joke, hey, it's only a flag. btw, cops were agreeing it was around quarter of a million, felt like february demo (tho even warmer)

this is funny thread: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47860-2003Nov16.html

what's the tv coverage like over there?

[Say_What]

22. no biggee it's been done here more than once--quite often in the 60s

Where you there??

The nightly snooze is typically 'muriKan crap. Smoke screens to keep the Sheeple asleep thinking that everything is okay. Michael Jackson is on everywhere, Dan Rather had London on and showed the toppling of Bush, burning the flag. I don't know if Miami even hit the national news.

Hey a few good films not to be missed:

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (Venezuela coup)
Hidden in Plain Sight (About the School of the Americas)
Plan Colombia

If you can see them you won't be sorry. All won awards, especially "Revolution"

Hope all is well with you.

Paz!!

[pescao]

26. wouldn't miss it for the world

actually i didn't see any flag-burning today, just a little yesterday when one guy started dripping fiery plastic everywhere. what would be good if we got all the flags, including the palestinian ones all over the place, and burned them all together! some people did burn a small tank in trafalgar sq, tho: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2003/11/281408.html

big american presence today, groups like 'ex-pats against bush' with placards saying "proud of my country, ashamed of my president", and of course 'americans against the war'. it's got to the stage where the only north americans left here are the pretty radical ones, i love it!

seen 'revolution' but not the others. actually i only saw the tv version, "chávez: inside the coup" which was a little shorter. apparently HBO have picked it up now. did u hear about the row with amnesty over it?

[CBHagman]

16. Don't forget coverage in the Guardian

There are a fair number of protest pictures here. Click on the story and/or photo links.


www.guardian.co.uk

[pescao]

21. and the bbc

i saw them uploading their pix on laptops yesterday: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3284991.stm

[Say_What]

23. Interesting remarks at that site... especially the Iraqi with Mom and bro

still in Bahgdad.
______________________________________________
I'm Iraqi. I came here in 1995. My poster says "stop this butcher Bush killing my people". My mother and brother are still in Baghdad and obviously I lost contact with them during the war, my brother emails me now, he tells me he'd rather have Saddam Hussein back than the coalition troops and the Iraqi council who are all only there for the money to be made.

How bad must it be if they want Saddam back?

But, when I look around at all the people out today I feel proud to be Iraqi, I feel proud to be British and I feel hopeful for the future of my country if all these people care enough to be here.
_______________________________________________

On the protest march with alternative secret agents, a blood splattered Ronald MacDonald and a fake George Bush who is leading Tony Blair on a leash.

We're defending the free, showing the future of conservatism and the future of free trade, people need to suffer if we're going to have wealth. They just have to accept that it's in their interest.

We're the grass root neo-liberals, the silent majority and we're going to boo the communist tree huggers when they come past.

<>

[goforit]

17. I'm so proud of you Brits!!!!.............Time will tell!!!

:bounce:

[BonjourUSA]

18. Euronews link

http://www.euronews.fr/create_html.php?page=accueil_info&langue=en

[mbperrin]

19. Go, you Brits, go!

Thanks for doing for us what we'd get shot for doing!

[SheLiberal]

20. They can't shoot all of us!

We should all be taking to the streets and take back our country. When I think of all the damage Shrub has done in 3 years I am frightened that he might be elected this time.

[Rebellious Republican]

24. Hows that you chaps from England would say.........

Brilliant, absolutley brilliant!!!

:toast:

[tabasco]

25. Friends of peace and freedom.

Your efforts will not be forgotten. You have inspired many to take to the streets to fight for peace and democracy. Every person marching made a valuable contribution, and I thank you all.

[opihimoimoi]

28. Wicked Proud of the Courageous Brits on confronting the SHEEPMASTER

:kick:

[silverchair]

29. wow

just wow, how come we don't have protests like this in the USA??

[ewagner]

30. Wow!

Nice job Brits!

Thank you!

[PartyPooper]

31. Wolf Blitzer said, "This isn't a real statue."

Or, words to that effect. :wtf:

I couldn't believe it. He more or less referred to it as an 'effigy'. Footage was shown several times on CNN and each time he said the same thing. So what if it was papier mache! It doesn't need to be made of plaster, bronze, or whatever! A statue is a statue! He was trying to say the one of Saddam toppled in Baghad was a 'real' one.

I hate Wolf!

:mad:

[Polemonium]

33. Thank you to all you Brit protesters

Anti-Bush sentiment shown so massively on days like today give me hope.

[TrueStory]

34. Comparison: Baghdad - April 9, 2003

The official version:



...and here is the unofficial version:

[Myra]

35. Thank you London protesters!

Each and every one of you.
I'm so proud and grateful...

And I now have a new, and inspirational, backgroud picture on
my PC thanks to the toppling of the Pretend President's statue.

He looks every bit the limp dick we know him to be.

[leftchick]

36. Here is a quote on numbers....350,000?!?

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/FF394373-C8FA-4A1C-A977-1BA39FE59E66.htm

<snip>

Police estimated the numbers marching at 110,000. But Chris Nineham, a spokesman for the Stop the War Coalition, said that 350,000 had joined the protest.

"We've shown the warmongers that far from disappearing, were still growing," he said, "and we'll stay on the streets until we win".

The anti-war MP Alice Mahon said she thought a quarter of a million had taken part. "I've lived through the Vietnam demonstrations, the protests against Thatcher and the Poll Tax," she told Aljazeera.net, "and this is one of the biggest I've ever seen.”

[dArKeR]

37. Caught On Tape: Bush Toppled - CBS iVideo

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/07/17/national/main563855.shtml

click "Watch Video Now" left side next to winter wonderland pic.