By: Mary Mostert, Analyst, Banner of Liberty (www.bannerofliberty.com)
February 19, 2003
CNN reported over the week-end “Huge crowds of anti-war demonstrators jammed into midtown New York on Saturday as protesters in dozens of U.S. cities joined large crowds worldwide in voicing opposition to war with Iraq.
“Demonstrators converged near the United Nations to protest the possible war in just one of the more than 600 anti-war rallies around the globe. Organizers estimated the crowd at more than 375,000, but Police Commissioner Ray Kelly estimated turnout at 100,000.”
Sounds rather impressive, doesn’t it? Even my local paper, in Provo, Utah, had a banner headline that read, “Millions march to protest war.” However, buried in the back of the paper was a paragraph noting that “about 1000 people” demonstrated in Salt Lake City with slogans such as “Drop Bush, Not bombs” and “Democracy Works Better than Bombs and Duct Tape.” Elsewhere we learned that 70% of Utah's 2 million people, according to the latest poll, support President George W. Bush’s policies on Iraq.
The real sign of a working Democracy, of course, is when people can VOTE for their leaders. What is remarkably absent from the CNN reports is just who organized the demonstrators and where the money for it came from. The main organizing group, International ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism” is planning another day of “demonstrations” for March 1st which they are calling the “Emergency Convergence on the White House in Washington DC.” Why? According to their website “In the coming days, we will see whether the Bush administration intends to defy the will of the people and plunge ahead with his criminal war plans.”
The will of WHAT people? Who was demonstrating around the world? According to a miffed editor of the Yemen Times, the demonstrations of February 15-16th reveals “one of (the) weakest and most humiliating moments” of the Arab world. He pointed out, “It is truly a pity to see the whole world protesting in millions the possible strike against Iraq, while we Arabs continue to go on in a trance that we have been put in by our oppressive and backward regimes.”
Oops! This sounds like a bit of heresy that might undo the “Anti-War” movement! It might even prompt journalists to track down who were the actual organizers and financiers of the world wide demonstrations. Actually, that is not very hard to find. Far from representing the views of the “Western World,” the Steering Committee for A.N.S.W.E.R. is composed of groups few people have ever heard of such as:
The Yemen Times editor went on to say, “Despite the fact that it is us Arabs who should be the first to protest and call for demonstrations in solidarity with our Iraqi and Palestinian brothers, we seem to be the only ones not so enthusiastic about going to the streets and expressing our anger. ‘If fifty or more people try to gather in Al-Tahrir Square, the city center, for a demonstration, they are immediately dispersed or arrested by the police forces,’ said one of the Yemenis I asked of the reason why we are so quiet. ‘Our regimes have made us afraid of protesting.’”
How sad! The Arab governments are so oppressive that the poor Arabs have to depend on us evil Westerners to fight their battles! The only time Arabs can protest is when they “are given posters of the president to raise them high during the protest,” according to the editor’s informant who added: “In a time we are protesting possible oppression against Iraq by a foreign state, we are suffering of oppression in our own countries. I just hope that our leaders realize the damage they have done to our reputation through their cruel actions against their own people.”
The Yemen editor observed, “Looking at the millions who demonstrated last Saturday in the streets of London against their own Prime Minister, we need to gain more self-confidence and trust in that people are the ones who should speak out if governments are too weak to do so. How can we raise our voices if we are not even given permission to gather in the city center?”
While the editor never once mentioned the word, what he is talking about, of course, is freedom in America and the lack of freedom in the oppressive regimes of the Arab world. He sounds a bit jealous that people in the evil empire of Satanic America can demonstrate against their governments, while Arabs don’t dare to demonstrate against theirs!
Think what could happen on the Arab streets if George W. Bush actually goes in and ends Saddam Hussein’s repressive government, allowing the oil wealth of Iraq to improve the lives of its people, as the oil wealth in Texas does! No wonder the despotic Arab rulers are scared to death. They are terrified of the repercussions in their own countries if oil revenues in a future Iraq Democracy actually benefited the public, rather than a handful of sheiks.
To comment: mmostert@bannerofliberty.com