I am proud to say that I marched with 6-10 million other people today, including PhillC and Ereneta. OK, in fact, I only had to endure the BO of 500,000 Sydney-siders, but our voices were joined with the global cry for peace.
Normally, I show a healthy level of nationalism. I’m usually quite proud to be an Aussie. But recently, just when one thought the Liberal party had learnt from the Vietnam War, and its All the way with LBJ, little Johnnie Howard gets us involved in the Coalition of the Willing.
He doesn’t need UN-backing... he’s got US-backing... which brings me to one of my favourite sign-series of the march:
Sign 1: I did it for the oil - George W Bush
Sign 2: I did it for the Bush - John Howard
I am glad I’m on the side of peace, because I think it’s the side that has much more fun. Our songs are better, our jokes are funnier (and so are our cigarettes). The camaraderie of the day was pretty cool, and it was not just the usual suspects - although, of course, they were there.
I referred to our train as the Peace Train. At the start of the trip, we were all nervous, and uncertain as to just how many people were going to be there. Maybe, it would just be me, my hubby and the freaks. But as the train filled and the t-shirts became more “vocal”, it was obvious that this was going to be a big day - complete with all walks of life.
But no extra trains were scheduled. And soon, the train departed stations with platforms full of people, still waiting to get on the train.
On the day, I knew that what we were doing were unlikely to change the warmongers’ minds. But I wanted to play my part of history. I wanted to be able to tell the next generation: “I opposed the evil invasion of Iraq”.
I was shocked when I discovered that the warmongers had two things to say about it:
- Assuming that 10 million turned up, that still left 5,990,000,000 people who didn’t turn up - and therefore supported the war on Iraq.
- Hope the protesters are happy now, because they have supported Saddam Hussein, and given him more propaganda ammunition.
I’m not going into the arguments of the war, the confusion between a “War of Terror” vs. a “War on Iraq”. Oh, I can’t help quoting Andrew Bartlett, leader of the Australian Democrats:
”Someone who is pro-peace cannot be pro-Saddam.”
Not in my name