World says no to Bush attack on Falluja
By John Catalinotto
President George W. Bush can't set foot in a foreign capital
without thousands of people coming into the streets to confront
him. And the brutal assault on Falluja, Iraq, has doubled
worldwide anger. Even when Bush stays in Washington, D.C., or
Texas, people around the world look for occasions to target the
U.S. president and his war policies.
Tens of thousands of people came out in Santiago, Chile,
Nov. 19 and 20 to condemn the Asian-Pacific Economic
Cooperation forum--and especially to condemn the U.S.
occupation of Iraq. It was one of the biggest protests since
the end of the Pinochet regime.
Police attacked protesters with tear gas and water cannons.
Some demonstrators fought back with stones and gasoline
bombs.
Along with the anti-globalization protests of the APEC
summit, demonstrators chanted, "U.S. out of Iraq," and,
"Terrorist Bush."
According to organizers, 30,000 were out on Nov. 19, and
70,000 on Nov. 20.
Bush's next visit is scheduled for Nov. 30 in Ottawa,
Canada's capital. The anti-war movement in Canada and Quebec
considers Bush a war criminal for his actions in Iraq. They are
organizing buses from all nearby cities to go to Ottawa to
protest. There will be simultaneous demonstration in Montreal
and far-off Vancouver.
In Greece, Nov. 17 is the anniversary of a massive student
protest against the ruling junta in 1973. From 1967 to 1974,
colonels that took over Greece in a NATO-backed coup ruled the
country. This is traditionally a day of protest.
This year the protest was directed at Bush and the U.S.
assault on Falluja. Some 20,000 people marched down the streets
of Athens, according to organizers.
In cities all over the United States in the first week of
the destruction of Falluja, demonstrations of from a few dozen
to a few thousand took place. In Britain on the weekend of Nov.
20-21, local demonstrations were set for at least six
cities.
Demonstrations have also taken place in Italy, Sweden,
Finland, Denmark, Belgium and Turkey, although they were not as
big as those that took place before Washington launched the
invasion of Iraq in March 2003.
Conditions have changed since those days, when many hoped
the Bush administration could still be dissuaded from invading
Iraq. Not only did Europe's workers oppose the war. But big
sections of the European ruling class and even some governments
believed they had nothing to gain and much to lose from a U.S.
military occupation of Iraq.
Now, to be against the occupation means to be in solidarity
with the Iraqi people, and thus in solidarity with the Iraqi
resistance. No major section of the imperialist ruling class
supports the liberation of Iraq by the Iraqi resistance. That
means the protests require an anti-imperialist alliance between
the working-class anti-war movements in the imperialist
countries and the people fighting for liberation from
occupation.
Reprinted from the Dec. 2, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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