In a compelling demonstration of pure democracy, millions of protestors across the world braved cold weather on Saturday afternoon and rallied in opposition to the use of military force in Iraq.
Over two million came out in Rome, approximately one million in London, Barcelona, Paris and Madrid, and upwards of 500,000 in the streets of New York City.
In New York City, protestors rallied despite a court ruling saying they could not march past the United Nations building. What happened instead was even more poetic, as every block up First Avenue was filled to the brim for a little over twenty blocks. The overflow from First Avenue spilled onto Second, Third and even Lexington Avenues, creating a veritable covering of the Upper East Side.
The protestors succeeded in dealing with the restrictions and creating a peaceful environment, emphasizing and legitimizing their points. Those who rallied also showed that they were not about disobedience or breaking laws, but that they were merely exercising their democratic rights. The rally took place despite terror warnings telling people to beware of subways and subzero temperatures. The only thing more frigid than the air, in fact, was the responses from the elected governments.
President George W. Bush and Prime Minister of Britain Tony Blair remained eerily silent, especially as Blair's government is on the verge of collapsing. Many of the lawmakers who backed his run marched with protestors in London, and his party has lost a lot of popular support. Bush, too, will not waver. At the very least, he must acknowledge the legitimacy of the protesters' points and allow them one of the most important rights as citizens of the United States - the right to free speech.
In the three other countries that have agreed to send troops to Iraq, public dissent was the greatest, and democracy is not being served. The protestors in Turkey have shown that almost 90 percent of the country does not support a war while it seems that the only reason that the country is going along with the United States is a $4 billion bribe.
In America, the voices of citizens opposing Bush are being ignored. What should happen is some pause and debate put in to the decision of going to war, but instead, the conservative government has just fallen back onto a much scarier base. The government now assumes that all dissent is from those who are uninformed and do not know what is good for themselves. That kind of contempt is not productive, especially in a modern democracy such as America.
The marchers were successful in letting the world know there is widespread dissent to Bush's plan. The highly publicized events made sure they were front-page news, and, hopefully, a message was sent to those in authoritative positions. If the governments of the world were watching, the messages against war were very clear. The protestors made sure their anti-war resolve was not seen as being soft on Saddam Hussein, but instead to have the governments of the world consider that removing him from power is different than embarking on a devastating war.
The anti-war movement is the epitome of democracy in action. If it is continually ignored, the world is in a scarier predicament than any terrorist could imagine. Despite personal beliefs, citizens' voices are necessary in order for our nation to adhere to the true ideals of democracy, and it is to be hoped that Bush will take the demonstration just past as a hint to reassess his stance.
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
