Antiwar Protests Still Going Strong

Millions of people rallied yesterday in major cities around the world against the upcoming US-led war on Iraq, which is expected to take place in a few days.

In Washington, D.C., thousands of protestors marched against the "war for oil." Along the West Coast, antiwar demonstrators occupied major intersections in San Francisco. In the process, some eighty demonstrators were arrested. In Italy and Spain, two countries that support the US plan to attack Iraq, many people rallied against the war. Some labor unions even promised to walk off their jobs, when Washington begins its attack. In Madrid, Spain, one million Spanish citizens marched against the United States` war plans and criticized their government`s pro-American position.

In France, a country that spearheaded the antiwar movement, some 50,000 people gathered on the streets in Paris, and 150,000 French people gathered to protest against the war in cities like Marseille and Bordeaux. In the meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of German citizens made a human band running across the city with candles in their hands. Fourteen thousand residents in Frankfurt blocked passages in and out of a US air force base in the city for hours.

According to an opinion poll published yesterday, 37 American respondents answered that the Bush administration should obtain support from the UN Security Council before it begins the war, while 13% argued that the United States should not attack Iraq even with UN approval.