In the weeks before the the 15th of February, the scale of world opposition to the impending invasion of Iraq started to become clear. Even the majority of the Western ruling elite were against it and proposed alternatives.
In the run up to the London demo, much of the liberal press derided the movement, although there was plenty of sort-of favourable coverage too. It was also predicted around this time, that there would be mass walkouts in workplaces around the country on the the event of war (in the event, if this did happen to any extent, the media made sure it did not spread by simply not reporting it). The government at one stage tried to ban the march to Hyde park, though it ultimately relented to pressure (as if it had much choice anyway). Meanwhile, the US continuted to make up pretty pictures in a vain attempt to convince the UN that it had a good reason to invade.
The final count for the day was up to 30 million around the world, including 2 million in the UK. Notable is the fact that the largest protests were seen in the countries whose governments supported the US most. As Chomsky pointed out, the scale of the anti-war movement was unprecedented. Never before have the populations of the imperialist nations agitated against one of its government’s wars before it even started.
More articles on this: Anti-war protesters rally to cause. ‘I’ve never known anything like it. Everyone’s saying they will march’