Clips from ultra-frigid, 500-person anti-war march & rally in Bangor, Maine, February 15, 2003 (Video courtesy Bill Phillips)
Almost ten total minutes of coverage from Ch. 5 and Ch. 2, Bangor, 11 pm reports on February 15, 2003; Be sure to watch through to the end for Ch. 2's "gas mask" story!
This all speaks for itself. Channel 5's reporter had it right: "The message of the Mainers, 'Stop the rush to war, join the 80% of the world's population that disagree with the president's war policy, and disarm Iraq through peaceful, multilateral policies.'"
GO TO THE LINK below for a page of stunning photos showing what a representative sample of that "80%" of the world's population looked like on that day:
11 million march against war
This was no failure by any means. Everything we said then about the prevarication of Colin Powell and the rest, and the consequences of the regime going ahead and ignoring us as they did do, sadly, has come true. But Bush did not get his "second resolution," Turkey could not allow the "northern attack." There is no taste today for attacking Iran as Cheney and company dearly wish to do. The American empire, while by no means crippled, took a necessary blow that day that resonates over the five years since. It is a cornerstone day of history that cannot be erased by the forces of revision.
In 2006, Noam Chomsky was asked, "Was the antiwar movement more successful in the '60s than it is today?
Chomsky: I think it's the other way around. The United States attacked Vietnam in 1962. It took years before any protest developed. Iraq is the first time in hundreds of years of European and American history that a war was massively protested before it was launched. There was huge protest in February 2003. It had never happened in the history of the West.It is up to all of us who care about the future, and all the world's grandchildren, to hold close to the heart the spirit of February 15, 2003.
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