I spent most of today at a demonstration against this '
war on terrorism' that's being fought on our behalf. The
demo was bigger than any I've seen since the
Poll Tax - we might have come pretty close with some of the actions against the
Criminal Justice Act, but I haven't seen
Trafalgar Square and the surrounding streets that full in about a decade. Official police estimates suggest about 20,000 people, which probably means more like 30,000 actually came - almost as many as will fit in that space. There's obviously a lot of people who feel strongly against what's going on, although you would hardly know it from
the mainstream media.
A couple of statistics from today's Evening Standard that I'm having trouble digesting: Although 34% of those questioned agreed that "America and Britain have acted wrongly, because only the United Nations Organisation has the moral and legal right to take military action against Islamic terrorism" 79% nevertheless said they support America's decision to take military action in Afghanistan. On the face of it, that leaves at least 13% approving of the action even though they consider it to be wrong. Hmm. Also, 79% agree that "Britain's involvement in military action has made it more likely that our country will be attacked by Islamic terrorists." That means, apparently, that somewhere between 68% and 79% approve even though they expect 'the war against terrorism' to promote terrorism against us.
People are strange.
My pictures and more about the march are at http://fergusmurray.members.beeb.net/warmarch.htm