Shame on the American media! I hate to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but something is amiss. No one is accurately reporting what occurred in New York City yesterday.
Make no mistake, this was a MAJOR event. The peace rally essentially shut down the entire east side of midtown and the lower part of the Upper East Side. 1st, 2nd and 3rd Avenues all had to be completely closed to traffic because of the huge waves of people.
The Times carried no coverage of the rally events themselves. Sure, there was an "up close and personal" short feature interviewing a small handfull of cute grandmothers, grade schoolers and Vietnam Vets, but no report on the chaos that the mass of people flooding through the streets caused. There was a parade of speakers many hours long, headed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. I was looking forward to reading at least highlights of the more important speeches in the paper today, however the Times failed to mention that there even WERE any speakers. They also claim the overflow extended only as far as 2nd Avenue and that many protesters were discouraged by the police barricades and the cold. This is simply a lie.
As always, the estimates for attendance figures are pretty suspect. CNN reports that the NYPD claims 100,000 people attended. An article posted yesterday afternoon on the Times website said 400,000 seemed like a reasonable estimate, but that figure does not appear in today's coverage. It's hard for me to say, since I was on foot stuck in the middle of the crowd, but let's put it this way: I spent three hours travelling north up Third Avenue from 42nd to 72nd Street, where police finally allowed us to turn east. I could see that 2nd Avenue was also completely packed with people. I'm attaching some pictures I took between 1-2 p.m. on Third Avenue in the 50s and 60s...as you can see, there were a lot of people standing there and we weren't yet even close to the center of the rally.
May I also point out that it was 22 degrees yesterday? These were determined people!
So please...those of you who are on the side of peace and justice, do not be dismayed by the deliberately dismissive attitude of the American media. There is a major resistance forming here; intelligent, articulate and organized. I urge all of you to do whatever you can. Be vocal. Let people know where you stand on this issue. If there is a rally in your area, please attend. You may think, "What does it matter whether I go or not?" Believe me, it matters. There are forces at work in this world larger than George W. Bush and Saddam Hussein. Stand up and be counted among the people on the side of peace. This action against Iraq is becoming something much larger; it is a war that will fragment the entire world. It is a war that is ill-timed and ill-planned. In his horrifying budget plans that will require Congress to reassess our national debt ceiling, the President has not provided even the most preliminary estimate for the cost of the war. It will bankrupt us, leave us isolated in the world, and will foment a rallying call to prospective young terrorists everywhere. George W. Bush is doing Al Qaeda an enormous favor.
If you think we are ready to take on Iraq, take a look at Afghanistan. What have we accomplished there? We overthrew a poorly organized and wildly unpopular totalitarian regime. And what has happened since? Do we even know? I tell you this, if there were any accomplishments to be proud of, Bush would tell us. The international community will not help us because they see what kind of "nation building" we have done in Afghanistan. There is no plan.
Who is Saddam Hussein? How did he get all these terrible weapons? Back in the 1980s when it was convenient for us to have the Ayatollah Khomeini as our enemy, we supported Saddam Hussein. Rumsfeld himself traveled to Baghdad and shook hands with Hussein. We gave him military equipment and training. Hussein used poison gas on Iran and we looked the other way. No, actually, we profited from it. The 12,000 page report that Iraq submitted to the UN about its disarmament listed several major American companies (as well as companies from France, Germany and the rest of the world) that sold chemical components to Iraq. The famous gassing of Kurds at Halabja was carried out using American-built helicopters. WE did this. We have always known Saddam was a bastard, but we used and exploited him for our own purposes.
Our hypocrisy will be our undoing. We point out time and time again that Iraq is in violation of UN resolutions and international law, which no one disputes. Yet Israel has been a rogue nation since 1967, flouting international law and ignoring condemnations by the UN. The world court in Belgium has just ruled that after he leaves office and no longer has diplomatic immunity, Ariel Sharon can be tried as a war criminal. Bush calls him a "man of peace" and considers him an ally...a man who responds to rock-throwing teenagers with machine guns, tanks and missiles.
We have no allies in this war. There may be a few governments that have openly supported Bush, but within those nations there is no widespread popular support. Massive anti-war protests were held yesterday in Rome and Prague, capital cities of our so-called allies. At least 750,000 marched in London. Support in the UK for the Iraq war is only good until Tony Blair's December election. The writing is on the wall: either he will renounce his support for Bush and call British troops home, or he will not be re-elected. We cannot count on the UK. Where is Canada in all this, has anyone noticed?
Support of inspections is not support for Saddam Hussein. What is of ultimate importance is the sanctity of human life. George Bush does not expect Saddam to voluntarily disarm, and neither does any other sane person. But while the inspectors have him on the run, he is impotent. If he has to keep moving his weapons stockpiles around, he will never be able to use them. Eventually, we will uncover material and destroy it. Sure, it's a game, but it will work for the time being. It will keep the people of Iraq alive.
Please do not underestimate the importance of this issue. We are standing on the brink of a war that will divide Europe, and will likely involve North Korea, China, India, Pakistan and Israel, all nuclear powers. With so many people in the world who believe that the Iraq problem can be resolved diplomatically, it is grossly irresponsible to advocate immediate military action. We are in the 21st century now. We know the horrors of war, and we have the capability to avoid it. This war will not solve a single problem, but it will create countless new ones. Please do everything you can. Don't be overwhelmed by a sense of futility because the government appears not to be listening. I will just yell louder. This is too important. Let the U.S. government know how you feel, and let other Americans know how you feel.
Andy McQuery
Ammnyc74 at aol.com
Copyright 2003 Scott Hanselman
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