You assume that the “150, 000” protestors are vying for peace. I’d be willing to bet many of them do not know much about the issue at hand with regards to Iraq. Many of these so called “peace activists” are merely anti-American, and thus were more than ready to protest in the cold. As well, I’d be willing to bet that most do not know that the UN designed an oil-for-food program in 1991 to provide food and medicine for the Iraqi people, yet surprise surprise Saddam rejected it outright for four years and then slow-rolled it for another year and a half. While the Iraqi people are starving (which, by the way I never hear so called “peace activists” complaining about), Baghdad has been caught exporting dates, corn, and grain outside of Iraq. Besides the fact that Saddam gassed the Kurds in northern Iraq in 1988, which was one of the largest chemical weapon attacks ever waged against a civilian population, today he continues to practice systematic torture, executions, forced displacement, and repression against the Iraqi people. However, I do not see the 150, 000 plus people protesting against that. It seems like the only way that people take interest is if America or/and the Bush administration can be the enemy.
Allen Markuze
