Any of you British mums or dads going out to protest Bush??

[Marg of Arabia]

http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/eu...sts/index.html

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Tens of thousands of anti-war campaigners are preparing to give George W. Bush a hostile reception when he arrives on what is described as the first state visit to Britain by a U.S. president.

While protesters are expected to be most vocal about Bush's Iraq policy, many have said they also resent his reluctance to fight global warming and his refusal to involve America in the International Criminal Court or in international efforts against land mines or chemical and biological weapons development.

[wettowels]

DH will be there for me, I'm too pregnant to protest right now.

I'm glad so many are protesting but honestly, the damage has been done by GWB and stooge Blair. I think a lot of us just feel numb and defeated.

Wish I felt more inspired! Hell, if a granny can scale the Palace and sit for two hours, then I should be out there.

[RowansDad]

Interesting results in the Guardian/ICM opinion poll:
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/...087545,00.html

[Marlena]

My only friend in London is a head honcho at Deutsch Bank (was a self-avowed communist when I knew him at university; how things change). He'd be out there, but...sigh...doesn't seem to do such things anymore, despite his still left-ish political leanings.

The question is when we'll see such demonstrations on a regular basis in the US, even without the catalyst of an impending war to spur them.

Edited to add: And yeah, RD, I was shocked by that poll. The Guardian talked about suicide bombings as one cause for the turn in public opinion, but that sounds pretty weak.

[Marg of Arabia]

The survey shows that public opinion in Britain is overwhelmingly pro-American with 62% of voters believing that the US is "generally speaking a force for good, not evil, in the world".

So, they asked people if the U.S. is "generally speaking a force for good, not evil, in the world" and that translates into the survey showing that public opinion in Britain is overwhelmingly pro-American????: Am I missing something here???

So, for me 10's of thousands planning on protesting is a better indication of the opinion of Bush over there than 1000 random phone calls made........................

[Marlena]

Sure, but there's more than that:

The detailed results of the poll show that more people - 43% - say they welcome George Bush's arrival in Britain than the 36% who say they would prefer he did not come.

Labour voters are more enthusiastic about the visit than Tory voters. But it is only Liberal Democrats who are marginally more unhappy about his arrival, with 43% against and 39% willing to welcome him. A majority of "twentysomethings" welcome Mr Bush. Hostility is strongest amongst the over-65s. There is a clear gender gap in attitudes with a majority of men - 51% - welcoming the president's arrival, compared with only 35% of women.

I agree, though - what happens at the protests should be far more significant an indicator of British opinion, if the numbers are anywhere near the anticipated size, than an opinion poll.

[Els' 3 Ones]

Shrub's not taking any chances:

In the name of Bush's safety, the Secret Service requested that the London Underground, the provider of transportation to millions daily, be closed down. American snipers and special agents traveling with Bush were to be given diplomatic immunity in the event that they should kill any of the expected 100,000 protesters. An artillery weapon called the "mini gun," normally used in battlefield conditions, was to be flown in in case it was deemed necessary to mow down protesters en masse. Vast sections of the city were to be closed to all traffic, forcing the closure of untold hundreds of businesses. Americans were to be placed in charge of all security operations, ahead of the British Scotland Yard, the MI5, the Metropolitan police, and Blair's own security detail. And U.S. fighter jets and Blackhawk attack helicopters, armed with surface-to-ground missiles and high-powered machine guns, were to secure the skies over London. All of this in addition to flying in not only Bush's own presidential limousine, but in fact his own motorcade. No foreign cars for our President – only a custom-imported procession of Humvees would do.

snip

The shock and awe inspired by the administration's chutzpah resulted in a resounding succession of no's from British officials.

Bush Goes To England, Blair Goes To Hell






El

[Curandera]

Originally posted by RowansDad
Interesting results in the Guardian/ICM opinion poll:
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/...087545,00.html

What I got from that article was that the people seem to also be able to distinguish between America and the government. They are being polite and welcoming him - but 43% doesn't really seem like much real support. Those questions sounded so extreme! Like is the US an EVIL EMPIRE? Is that not a bit extreme? Silly poll, if you ask me.

The survey shows that public opinion in Britain is overwhelmingly pro-American with 62% of voters believing that the US is "generally speaking a force for good, not evil, in the world". It explodes the conventional political wisdom at Westminster that Mr Bush's visit will prove damaging to Tony Blair. Only 15% of British voters agree with the idea that America is the "evil empire" in the world.

"explodes the conventional wisdom . . . "? I don't get the connection between people's feelings about the country the USA, and their feelings about this administration!

[Marg of Arabia]

Bush is a pussy!!(no pun intended)

He won't talk in front of parliament! Instead he talks in front of "invited guests"...........: :

[Curandera]

I dare say, there'd be far fewer American politicians if they had to undergo a parlamentary system, as the Brits, do. Few have the wherewithall - and Bush would never have wits to stand up to what Tony does!

[Marg of Arabia]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/antiwar/st...089661,00.html

Shortly after 5.30pm demonstrators in Trafalgar Square pulled down a papier-mache effigy of Mr Bush with Tony Blair in his pocket in an attempt to re-enact the iconic moment on April 9 when US soldiers and Iraqi civilians brought down a statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad.

Wish I could go...............

[Curandera]

BBC News report estimates,

Organisers claim more than 150,000 joined the demonstration but police said the numbers were about 100,000.

On the other hand, MSNBC News reports

AT LEAST 50,000 PEOPLE set off on a march that took almost two hours to clear its starting point at the University of London.

: :

[Curandera]

Just wanted to say, I revisited the MSNBC article - and some of it has changed. Now they are claimng that

The Stop the War Coalition, which organized the march, said 200,000 people participated; the police estimate was 70,000.

The BBC radio though, has been saying 100,000. The discrepency between the 2 news agencies somehow bothers me.