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G_j

(40,366 posts)
Sat Jun 14, 2014, 09:37 AM Jun 2014

'36 million people across the globe took part in almost 3,000 protests against the Iraq war'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_15,_2003_anti-war_protest
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protests_against_the_Iraq_War

Beginning in 2002, and continuing after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, large-scale protests against the Iraq War were held in many cities worldwide, often coordinated to occur simultaneously around the world. After the biggest series of demonstrations, on February 15, 2003, New York Times writer Patrick Tyler claimed that they showed that there were two superpowers on the planet, the United States and worldwide public opinion.

These demonstrations against the war were mainly organized by anti-war organizations, many of whom had been formed in opposition to the invasion of Afghanistan. In some Arab countries demonstrations were organized by the state. Europe saw the biggest mobilization of protesters, including a rally of three million people in Rome, which is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest ever anti-war rally.

According to the French academic Dominique Reynié, between January 3 and April 12, 2003, 36 million people across the globe took part in almost 3,000 protests against the Iraq war.

In the United States, even though pro-war demonstrators have been quoted as referring to anti-war protests as a "vocal minority", Gallup Polls updated September 14, 2007 state, "Since the summer of 2005, opponents of the war have tended to outnumber supporters. A majority of Americans believe the war was a mistake."



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_coverage_of_the_Iraq_War

In 2003, a study released by Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting stated the network news disproportionately focused on pro-war sources and left out many anti-war sources. According to the study, 64% of total sources were in favor of the Iraq War while total anti-war sources made up 10% of the media (only 3% of US sources were anti-war). The study stated that "viewers were more than six times as likely to see a pro-war source as one who was anti-war; with U.S. guests alone, the ratio increases to 25 to 1."[21]

FAIR also conducted a similar study in February 2004. According to the study, which took place during October 2003, current or former government or military officials accounted for 76 percent of all 319 sources for news stories about Iraq which aired on network news channels.[22]

After the invasion, the editors of the New York Times apologized for its coverage of Hussein's alleged weapons programs, acknowledging that "we wish we had been more aggressive in re-examining the claims (related to Iraqi weapons programs) as new evidence emerged — or failed to emerge."[23]

During the invasion, critics argued that the mainstream media unduly focused on optimistic events, such as the toppling of a Saddam Hussein statue in Firdos Square, which was staged with the help of the U.S. military forces, thus downplaying more negative news developments.[24] In particular, the mainstream media has been criticized for underreporting news about Iraqi civilian casualties, which are estimated to be anywhere between 100,000 and 650,000.

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'36 million people across the globe took part in almost 3,000 protests against the Iraq war' (Original Post) G_j Jun 2014 OP
And we were all right too. nt bemildred Jun 2014 #1
And the media ignored it completely or printed lies about it. nt kelliekat44 Jun 2014 #18
Yes, they did, and they are still paying the same people for doing that same job. nt bemildred Jun 2014 #22
War is good for ratings. eom MohRokTah Jun 2014 #2
But did they listen to us? femmocrat Jun 2014 #3
They didn't even count or report on us. Demeter Jun 2014 #4
They did more than that. They actively suppressed and muzzled us. calimary Jun 2014 #5
Yes, they did gratuitous Jun 2014 #8
same thing in SF...the lied about the number of people noiretextatique Jun 2014 #25
Bull Scarsdale Jun 2014 #6
Welcome to DU, Scarsdale. femmocrat Jun 2014 #13
The Iraq war was a mistake based on lies abelenkpe Jun 2014 #7
The anti-war protesters and OWS Shemp Howard Jun 2014 #9
The largest protest in US history was virtually ignored by the MSM LiberalLovinLug Jun 2014 #10
Exactly. Enthusiast Jun 2014 #11
I was there! And, so Naive.. thought the papers would be full of us Protesting bush's war to be... Cha Jun 2014 #16
I was in huge protest in DC just prior to the invasion. DCBob Jun 2014 #19
K&R! This post should have hundreds of recommendations! Well done, G_j! Enthusiast Jun 2014 #12
Yeah, and I was one of them. My sister and I.. in New York City. And, the NYT under reported Cha Jun 2014 #14
We were among them malaise Jun 2014 #15
! KG Jun 2014 #17
Lots of pictures of the protests from around the world. Here's the google link. Beautiful. madfloridian Jun 2014 #20
Recommend view... KoKo Jun 2014 #23
K&R! Katashi_itto Jun 2014 #21
thanks! not long ago, a DUer challenged me about these numbers noiretextatique Jun 2014 #24
K&R Solly Mack Jun 2014 #26
And there are still people who never knew this. They never saw any coverage unless they were sabrina 1 Jun 2014 #27
And I participated in many of them. WhiteTara Jun 2014 #28
Yes...so did I and many other DU'ers no longer with us... KoKo Jun 2014 #29
My first march was in SF WhiteTara Jun 2014 #30
We call them the corporate media because they're nothing more than that. Uncle Joe Jun 2014 #31
a good analogy, G_j Jun 2014 #32
Peace to you, G_j. Uncle Joe Jun 2014 #33
 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
4. They didn't even count or report on us.
Sat Jun 14, 2014, 11:49 AM
Jun 2014

Nothing was permitted to stop the handbasket.

(although I'll bet you a nickel the NSA did...)

calimary

(80,693 posts)
5. They did more than that. They actively suppressed and muzzled us.
Sat Jun 14, 2014, 12:01 PM
Jun 2014

I remember that time so painfully! NEVER saw any press at any of maybe eight or nine different protests I attended around L.A. Except for the very last one, the candlelight vigil on the very eve of the war. Oh gee, there was a camera crew or two. Well how 'bout that. Where've you been, you lazy negligent wholly-owned assholes???? I remember that. And the noise OUR movement made - THROUGHOUT the bush/cheney years, that was summarily ignored. From the very start. Wholly-owned subsidiaries. We were publicly lambasted as traitors and America-haters. That would actually be the statement put to us, to our faces - "why do you hate America?" (Straight from the toxin-filled yap of that-guy-whose-name-rhymes-with-Vanity.) Some who tried to speak out lost their jobs, incomes, friends, and even families. I guess that's still small potatoes, though, by comparison to all those other Americans who LOST LOVED ONES in that goddamn war based on COMPLETE AND UTTER LIES. They lied. WE told the truth. WE were vilified and condemned and denounced and punished and shunned and mocked. And WE turned out to be (shit, I hate even using the now-thoroughly-perverted and hijacked word) right.

And the same fucking-WRONG assholes who are WRONG AGAIN TODAY - are at it again.

Only difference this time is there are a few people in the media who DO remember what happened. And enough of us who will, once again, not keep silent about this. There's hard, miserable, sorrow-filled experience to inform, this time, and back us up, this time. So we'll see. The difference is, this time we have somebody in the Oval Office who isn't swayed so much, who doesn't have a very large investment in sending us to an ill-advised war for some personal financial or "he-tried-tuh-kill-mah-daddy" hard-on for some ridiculous, trumped-up "I'm-tougher-than-you" vendetta. I hope he holds strong.

gratuitous

(82,849 posts)
8. Yes, they did
Sat Jun 14, 2014, 12:09 PM
Jun 2014

I remember the account in the Oregonian, which spent about two-thirds of its coverage disputing the number of people demonstrating in the streets, complete with aerial photography and "experts" on crowd-size estimates. The substance of the demonstration was pretty effectively glossed over.

As for the electronic media, their focus was usually on the anarchist kids with their uniforms of black outfits and face mask bandanas, or the guy with the rainbow fright wig. "Ho, ho, look at the hippies!" was the usual tone. Anyone with an articulate, thoughtful point of view was ignored in favor of the spectacle.

And then it was time for shock and awe! Oh yeah baby, look at the pretty explosions. Don't think about the people underneath them. I also remember, as I type that, that there was a documentary film-maker who went and recorded streets scenes and ordinary family life as it existed in Iraq in the weeks leading up to the U.S.-led invasion. Nobody wanted to see the footage of kids flying kites or families in public parks. We were on a crusade.

noiretextatique

(27,275 posts)
25. same thing in SF...the lied about the number of people
Sun Jun 15, 2014, 01:58 PM
Jun 2014

At each and every protest. MSM routinely underestimated the crowd size.

Scarsdale

(9,426 posts)
6. Bull
Sat Jun 14, 2014, 12:03 PM
Jun 2014

The mantra "Fighting them over there, so we will not have to fight them over here" was BS. Now we have all the gun freaks putting us in more danger than Al Quaida!! If the gop wants more war, send all of them over there, including 5 deferrment Dickless Cheney.

abelenkpe

(9,933 posts)
7. The Iraq war was a mistake based on lies
Sat Jun 14, 2014, 12:05 PM
Jun 2014

Lies that have gone unpunished. We should never have gone to Iraq and we should not get sucked back in now.

Shemp Howard

(889 posts)
9. The anti-war protesters and OWS
Sat Jun 14, 2014, 12:22 PM
Jun 2014

Both the anti-Iraqi War protesters and the Occupy Wall Street protesters were right, entirely right! Someday, history will verify that. But that doesn't help alleviate the misery now.

I'm so disappointed in Obama, on so many levels. One of which is that he didn't set in motion a commission to investigate what really caused the Iraqi war. It could have been something measured, along the lines of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Sure, an Iraqi War investigation would have been unpleasant, and would have opened old wounds. It's so much easier to just ignore things.

Then of course, history will repeat itself. In five or ten years, the US will start yet another illegal war.

Cha

(295,899 posts)
16. I was there! And, so Naive.. thought the papers would be full of us Protesting bush's war to be...
Sun Jun 15, 2014, 08:20 AM
Jun 2014

little did I know how much the papers and tv wanted the damn thing.

DCBob

(24,689 posts)
19. I was in huge protest in DC just prior to the invasion.
Sun Jun 15, 2014, 09:00 AM
Jun 2014

There must have been close to million people but the media chose to ignore it. I remember one lone protestor with a sign that read..

"If you liked Vietnam you will love Iraq."

Cha

(295,899 posts)
14. Yeah, and I was one of them. My sister and I.. in New York City. And, the NYT under reported
Sun Jun 15, 2014, 08:14 AM
Jun 2014

the number of Protestors who Filled the City for 7 hours in 20 degree weather on Feb 15, 2003.

Thanks GJ

noiretextatique

(27,275 posts)
24. thanks! not long ago, a DUer challenged me about these numbers
Sun Jun 15, 2014, 01:55 PM
Jun 2014

And claimed I was exaggerating. Thanks for proving him wrong.

sabrina 1

(62,325 posts)
27. And there are still people who never knew this. They never saw any coverage unless they were
Sun Jun 15, 2014, 02:04 PM
Jun 2014

online, which many were not back then.

I don't believe CNN was sorry, they did the job they were supposed to do.

Sick to death of people who say they're sorry AFTER it's way, way too late.

If they want to show how sorry they are, they can start hiring real investigative journalists and begin the questioning of how this was allowed to happen.

Show Rumsfeld declaring it would 'take months, weeks maybe' and the smearing of Levitt for contracting him on what it would cost.

But they won't.

WhiteTara

(29,676 posts)
28. And I participated in many of them.
Sun Jun 15, 2014, 05:28 PM
Jun 2014

But *co was determined and there was no stopping the madness that hasn't ended today.

When asked why we were moving on to Iraq, Rummy stated that there weren't any good "target rich" areas left in Afghanistan.

KoKo

(84,711 posts)
29. Yes...so did I and many other DU'ers no longer with us...
Sun Jun 15, 2014, 08:44 PM
Jun 2014

But...I WILL NEVER BE SORRY for all of our Actions which turned out to be CORRECT...

Someday the History will acknowledge....

WhiteTara

(29,676 posts)
30. My first march was in SF
Sun Jun 15, 2014, 09:10 PM
Jun 2014

and as I walked down the streets, I was crying and as I looked around, there were many people my age and they were all crying too. Somehow we thought we had fought this demon and we were free from these ill fated wars.

Too bad there was Nadir and his infamous "They deserve it" so that he didn't have to negotiate with the Democratic Party. I will never forget his perfidy and treasonous actions toward our republic.

Uncle Joe

(58,107 posts)
31. We call them the corporate media because they're nothing more than that.
Sun Jun 15, 2014, 09:21 PM
Jun 2014

They're not the peoples' media nor the "mainstream media."

The mainstream flows briskly with information and is a sign of health, the corporate media is stagnation doing its' best to dam toxins and waste for all who want to swim in or drink from it.


Thanks for the thread, G_j.

G_j

(40,366 posts)
32. a good analogy,
Sun Jun 15, 2014, 10:52 PM
Jun 2014

Last edited Mon Jun 16, 2014, 12:19 AM - Edit history (1)

as they muddy the waters and perpetuate confusion and divisiveness,. Oh, and add apathy to that.

Thanks Uncle Joe!

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