- At first George Bush gently rocked, then he began to
sway, before finally the figure started toppling, slowly but inexorably
on to the pavement below.
-
- The symbolic end of the five-metre (17ft) tall effigy
- a riposte to the pulling down of the statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad
- brought the biggest cheer of the day: louder than the boos when the seemingly
never ending procession made its way past Downing Street; bigger even than
the shouts and whistles that rang out when Britain's sixth anti-war demonstration
in a year began its snaking path through London to Trafalgar Square.
-
- Yesterday was by far the biggest turnout since the million-plus
march in February; along with the crowds, the anger and conviction were
back with a vengeance.
-
- The hope of making a difference on that February day,
before war had begun, was superseded by a sense of frustration on subsequent
marches.
-
- Yesterday the demonstrators had a target, something tangible
to shout at, even if he was hidden behind an impenetrable wall of security.
-
- By mid-morning people were coming together in Bloomsbury
for the start of the march, everyone from schoolchildren playing truant
to pensioners carrying placards reading "Go Home" and "World's
Number 1 Terrorist".
-
- Young and old, doctors, and teachers, students and the
unemployed, representing every religion and every colour. They had come
on foot and on bikes, by train and in cars.
-
- Twenty coaches made their way down the M6 from Manchester,
while at least four more came from Exeter. All were assembling to make
up the diverse mix that in two years has seen the Stop the War Coalition
become the fastest growing political movement in Britain.
-
- By 2.45pm, with Bloomsbury a seething mass of whistles
and chanting, the march was led off by a disabled Vietnam veteran-turned
peace protester, Ron Kovic, behind the banner "Proud of My Country,
Ashamed of my President".
-
- The Stop the War Coalition, the Muslim Association of
Great Britain and CND had predicted that more than 100,000 people would
turn out to protest at the state visit of the president of the United States.
-
- Yesterday the organisations claimed that more than 200,000
took part, and it was difficult to argue that they were wrong. Scotland
Yard, however, gave an estimate of 70,000.
-
- As the procession made its way down Holborn and over
Waterloo bridge, the road was filled with banners and flags as far as the
eye could see.
-
- More than 5,000 police officers, standing out in their
Day-Glo yellow coats, mingled with the protesters and lined the route as
the march snaked its way past Westminster.
-
- The next stop, Whitehall, was guarded like Fort Knox.
But it did not matter to the marchers, and especially not to the organisers,
who had negotiated hard with the authorities to be able to march past the
seat of government.
-
- As the march swung past Number 10 there was a cacophony
of whistles, boos, jeers and insults. But it was as close as the protesters
got to Tony Blair or Mr Bush.
-
- A little further on, at the Foreign Office, hours earlier
the prime minister and the president had held a joint press conference
- but by the time of the march the president was safely ensconced back
in Buckingham Palace.
-
- When the front of the march arrived in Trafalgar Square
there seemed to be several thousand protesters waiting to greet them. And,
as the speeches started, the organisers claimed that the tail of the march
was only just leaving the starting point in Malet Street.
-
- "This is probably one of the largest demonstrations
that London has ever seen on a weekday, it is massive," said Lindsay
German, convener of the Stop the War Coalition.
-
- The marchers were still arriving as two men in white
boiler suits hung ropes around the neck of the effigy of the president
and Mr Kovic led the countdown that ended with the toppling of the statue.
-
- The £5m security operation surround ing the president
had done its job of keeping him out of sight and sound of the protesters,
and it had an added edge after yesterday's bombings in Istanbul.
-
- "Everyone involved should remember terrorists are
no respecters of anyone else," warned Scotland Yard's deputy assistant
commissioner Andy Trotter. "They would think nothing about launching
an attack which injured demonstrators and innocent bystanders.".
-
- But Ms German said that the attacks in Istanbul were
an inevitable consequence of the war. "I hate to say we told you so,
but we have been saying from the beginning that the war with Iraq would
inevitably lead to more terrorist attacks.
-
- "If it does turn out to be al-Qaida, I don't think
it can be any coincidence that these attacks have come against British
targets on the day that George Bush is visiting London."
-
- Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited
2003
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- http://www.guardian.co.uk/antiwar/story/0,12809,1090122,00.html
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