Thousands march to demonstrate opposition to U.S.-led wars

September 24, 2005

Across the globe demonstrations took place against the US-led war and occupation of Iraq.

Washington D.C. saw the largest demonstration with hundreds of thousands of people marching. Organisers put the figure as high as 250,000 though police put the number at 150,000. Many speakers linked the massive deployment of US troops in Iraq and the inability of the federal government to respond adequately to the needs of people displaced by Hurricane Katrina, and others linked the Iraq war to the occupation of Palestine and the oil crisis. The mobilisations were united around the slogan "Bring the Troops Home Now!" San Francisco, and Los Angeles also had demonstrations.

The demonstration in London set off from Parliament square and went to Hyde park. Organisers' figures for attendance (100,000) differ greatly from the police's estimate of only 10,000. Stop the War Coalition, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) jointly organised the demonstration. The organisers planned the demonstration to coincide with the Washington demonstration and also in hope of influencing the Labour Party Conference.

Notable in the U.S. mobilisations was the increasingly visible presence of military families speaking out against the war. Antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan spoke in D.C. and drew the largest crowd of spectators.

Antiwar mobilisations, as well as actions against the World Bank and IMF, will continue in D.C. tomorrow and into next week.