The bombs have already fallen overseas in Iraq. The U.S. casualty list has nearly reached 600. Thousands of other U.S. soldiers have been wounded, and the Iraqi death toll is in the thousands. When March 20 marked the one-year anniversary of the war, hundreds of thousands took to the streets of the world, denouncing Bush’s imperialistic occupation and war on Iraq. The movement believed the war could be stopped, but the passion for change and an end to war still burns within the hearts and minds of millions of activists across the world, proving the peace movement is still very much active, strong, and alive.Initially, the peace movement was started months before the March 2003 bombing campaign began in Iraq. In the U.S., rallies started occurring around the fall of 2002, when rumors of Bush’s greedy hunger to occupy Iraq became known. In late October of 2002, hundreds of thousands marched across the country opposed to war, including in D.C. and California.
The largest protest weekend for the peace movement came on the weekend of February 14 and 15, 2003. Over a million people marched in London and Rome. Hundreds of thousands also took to the streets of New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Italy, Australia, Germany, Spain, Mexico and all over the world. The weekend could have possibly been the largest protest weekend in the world’s history, and after that weekend, the New York Times declared the rising tide of dissent and opposition to war and empire as the only other world power besides the U.S. government. The rallies contained a variety of different people. Different sexualities, races and ages were all represented. There wasn’t one narrow stereotype that could classify the movement because it was so diverse.
In the beginning, there was a feeling within the global movement for peace that the war could be stopped. Rallies occurred months before the campaign in Iraq began. It seemed as though global opposition towards war could halt the Bush Administration from bringing bloodshed and disorder to Iraq, but it did not work. The day after the war, protestors took to the streets of the U.S., denouncing the war again. The optimism turned to anger, frustration, and confusion because the massive tide of dissent that rose in opposition to war couldn’t stop the Bush Administration’s conquest in Iraq.
For a few months, the movement mellowed out and thinned. Shortly after the war, patriotism was also used against those who spoke out against the war. For a while, it became “unpatriotic” to question the war and the motives behind it. However, the lies of the Bush Administration that the peace movement realized early on slowly began to leak out. Over the summer of 2003 and the beginning of 2004, Americans began to realize that Iraq lacked WMDs. U.N. inspectors and U.S. inspectors found no weapons in the country, even though Bush claimed Saddam Hussein was a massive threat to the West and to his Arab neighbors. Paul O’Neill, Bush’s former head of the treasury department and David Kay, a chief U.S. weapons inspector, both came out and said that the Bush Administration lacked evidence for going to war. Saddam’s link to 9/11 has also not been found, and Colin Powell, the U.S. Secretary of State, even told the New York Times in December that there was no link between Iraq and al-Qaeda. The country is now realizing that the peace movement was right in declaring there was no reason to launch a deadly invasion and occupation in Iraq.
Because of the massive peace movement that erupted in the world, the U.S. also had little support from other countries. Very few countries gave troops to help the U.S. attack Iraq, and it seems as though different governments realized their people didn’t want the war. The recent election in Spain is also a success for the peace movement. Spain’s former government was a large supporter of the war, even though hundreds of thousands protested the war in the country. When Spain held their election this March, the people spoke out and elected a government opposed to war who are going to pull their troops out of Iraq. The peace movement was successful in creating a regime change in Spain, and now regime changes need to occur in the U.S. and Britain.
When March 20 marked the one-year anniversary of the war on Iraq, protestors recaptured the streets of the world and demanded an end to the war and occupation. Hundreds of thousands marched in New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Mexico, Japan, England, Germany, the Philippines, and all across the world. It is clear Bush’s war has cost the lives of thousands of innocent men, women and children. The peace movement is going to continue to demand a world where greed and profit no longer create imperialistic, deadly conflicts.
Brian Fanelli is a sophomore majoring in Comparative Literature.