A protestor dressed as a detainee from
the Guantanamo Bay dentention center joins other protestors against the
war in Iraq as they participate in the March on the Pentagon in
Washington, March 17, 2007. (Xinhua/Reuters photo) Gallery>>>
NEW
YORK, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of protestors marched to the UN
headquarters in Manhattan, New York, on Sunday to call for an end to the Iraq
war and no military attacks on Iran on the eve of the fourth anniversary of the
U.S. preemptive strike on Baghdad.
"As everyone has seen, war does not resolve
problems," said Leslie Kielson, a member of United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ),
an anti-war nongovernmental organization which called the demonstration.
"Thousands of Iraqis were killed and U.S. soldiers were dying," she said.
As for Iran, she suggested that the Bush
administration engage in dialogue and political settlement instead of drawing
the nation into another war.
Some 35,000 protesters took part in Sunday's rally in
Midtown Manhattan, according to the organizers. The protestors assembled east of
the sixth Avenue at 1 p.m. (1700 GMT) and marched to the offices of Senator
Hillary Clinton and Charles E. Schumer before arriving at the UN headquarters.
A woman pushed a baby carriage alongside, and set up
a sign into a car reading "Money for education, not war."
For New Yorkers, President George W. Bush's proposed
budget of 100 U.S. billion dollars more for the war means 77.2-million-dollar
cut from Low-income Energy Assistance, 23.4-million-dollar cut from Head Start,
131.5-million-dollar cut from Community Development Block Grants,
44.1-million-dollar cut from Special Education and more, UFPJ said on its
website.
Two American media personnel who joined the protest
said they were calling for a full withdraw of U.S. troops from all parts of the
world, such as South Korea, Guantanamo, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Four U.S. university students coming from
Philadelphia drew colorful peace symbols on their faces.
A girl student said the two-hour travel was
worthwhile. "After 911, many people supported the Iraq war because people needed
a remedy at that time, but now everyone has got a clear picture of what's
happening in Iraq everyday," she said.
A Sunday poll finds that 61 percent of those surveyed
say it was not worth invading Iraq, but when the Iraq war began, 68 percent of
Americans said they felt the situation in the country was worth fighting over.
Last week, a survey showed the president's so-called
"New Way Forward" plan was unpopular. Some 59 percent Americans opposed an
increase of troops, and 58 percent wanted to see U.S. troops withdraw from Iraq
by 2008 or sooner.
Bush announced in January that he was deploying
another 21,500 U.S. troops to Iraq to crack down on the sectarian warfare and
insurgency in the country.
Local media reported that a group called the "Peace
Actions Coalition" is planning a protest near Wall Street Monday morning to draw
the public attention to the economic and human costs of war.
Wat Stearnt, a vendor who designed scores of anti-war
T-shirts said he sold some 30 ones on Sunday afternoon.
Written on one of the T-shirts, remarks made by
Martin Luther King, Jr. read "We are either for nonviolence or we are for
nonexistence."
The front of a baby sweater was printed "War --
Bad."
BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Anti-war demonstrations
were staged across the United States, a number of European countries as well in
Iraq on Saturday to mark the fourth anniversary of the Iraq war.
WASHINGTON, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of
protesters marched from Washington D.C. to the steps of Pentagon on the other
side of the Potomac River Saturday, to mark the 4th anniversary of the Iraq war,
which falls on March 20.
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