Demonstrations against the 2003 invasion of Iraq

Manifestation against the Iraq War in London, during the global mobilizations of 15 February 2003

The global demonstrations against the invasion of Iraq in 2003 were a series of globally called and coordinated protests against the imminent invasion of Iraq by the United States and its allies, the first of which were of a really global story.

These massive demonstrations were organized primarily by anti-war and peace organizations, many of which had already opposed the invasion of Afghanistan years earlier. In some Arab countries, the demonstrations were organized by the state; however, Europe witnessed the largest demonstrations, including the three million people who marched through Rome, the capital of Italy, against the war, a demonstration that entered the Guinness Book of Records as the largest demonstration anti-war protest in history. According to French academic Dominique Reynié, in just three months, between January 3 and April 12, 2003, 36 million people around the world participated in nearly 3,000 anti-war protests. of Iraq. After the largest demonstrations on February 15, 2003, New York Times writer Patrick Tyler said that "it had been proven that there were two superpowers on the planet: United States and world public opinion".

In the United States, pro-war protesters often described opponents of the war as "a minority"; a Gallup poll on September 14, 2007 found that "since the summer of 2005, opponents of the war outnumber their supporters. Most Americans believe the war was a mistake." In Europe polls at the time showed that between 75 and 90% of the continent's population was opposed to the war. Local circumstances allowed the effects to of the protests lasted over time, especially in the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain and Italy. Despite everything, the alliance began the invasion of Iraq on March 20, 2003.

Before the invasion of Iraq

"Stop the war"

Protest in Washington DC against George W. Bush's military intervention policy in Iraq.

In the first months of 2003, different social forums and other non-governmental organizations, such as Greenpeace, belonging mostly to the political left, mobilized citizens from all over the world, who took to the streets to try to avoid the war against Iraq led by the United States, carried out with a vast majority of public opinion against it (close to 90% in Spain).

The demonstrations were especially relevant in the countries committed to the invasion (Australia, United States, Spain, United Kingdom, Portugal, Poland, Italy, Denmark). These were the first demonstrations called by internet and SMS, and the effectiveness of the new media was shown, since the world protest (or march for peace) began to be organized only a month before it took place.

The universally adopted motto was No to war!. Other of the slogans most chanted by the protesters (at least, in Spain) were:

• "No more oil blood", based on the accusations to the U.S. government to invade Iraq in order for the like-minded companies to control the rich Iraqi deposits, as they did to the Kuwaitis after the 1990s Gulf War.
• "Blair, Bush, Aznar: Killers", in which the so-called "Three of the Azores" was considered responsible for the deaths of Iraqi civilians that occurred as a result of the invasion.

Worldwide demonstrations on February 15

An elderly woman rests in Madrid during the March 22 demonstration.

On February 15, 2003, the largest of the demonstrations took place, achieving the largest global mobilization in history. Millions of people took to the streets in many cities, led by Rome with 2 million demonstrators.

It is worth noting the dance of figures, in terms of the number of protesters in the main cities of the countries whose governments supported the invasion. The difference between the official data given by the administrations and those given by the conveners was very large; each defending their interests. A clear example is Madrid, where the number of protesters was much higher than 660,000 officers, although it is very possible that they did not reach 2 million people according to the organizers.

There were many demonstrations and subsequent rallies outside the US embassies, with a large number of protesters, although the call for February 15 was not reached.

From the invasion to the fall of Baghdad

After President Bush's ultimatum and the imminence of the attack, the anti-war platforms called a demonstration in all the big cities for the afternoon of the day the invasion began, whatever it was, also getting a great response. The demonstrations continued during the war, progressively decreasing the number of demonstrators, in view of the little response obtained from the governments of the attacking countries, but they served to continue showing the general opposition of public opinion.

After the fall of Baghdad

After the fighting in March and April 2003, a Donors Conference was held in Madrid the following October to raise funds for the reconstruction of Iraq. The platforms that mobilized against the war also They opposed the conference on the grounds that it was raising money to continue the occupation for the benefit of the United States. Another demonstration was held in Madrid but this time the response was much less than in the months before the war, since the issue had ceased to be constantly on the lips of public opinion.

On March 20, 2004, the first anniversary of the beginning of the invasion of Iraq, another global day of protest against the subsequent military occupation took place. In London, two Greenpeace activists evaded security, scaled the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament and unfurled a banner urging the UK government to 'tell the truth'. to citizenship. Some of the largest demonstrations took place in Rome (at least 250,000 demonstrators) and in Barcelona and New York (more than 100,000 demonstrators each).

The Spanish peculiarity

Painted "No to war" in an industrial fireplace in Malaga.

Spain is the country where these demonstrations achieved the greatest significance. It so happened that Spain was part of the UN Security Council and that the United States government gave it a special role. On the one hand, he referred to Spain as the mainstay of the new Europe and, on the other, he entrusted it to add the support of the countries of Latin America. The Spanish government of the Popular Party supported the invasion of Iraq in 2003 despite having all the other political parties and up to 90% of the citizens against it. In fact, during that period the then president José María Aznar had the The lowest popularity rating of the entire legislature, and the polls momentarily gave the PSOE an advantage of four points.

It is estimated that between eleven million and eight million people demonstrated in Spain.^{[citation required ]} Between Madrid and Barcelona alone there were between one million and three million protesters.

The protests by artists and show people were also visible to the point that during the 17th edition of the Goya Awards, the actors and directors wore badges with the motto "No to war" and converted the act in an allegation against it. Later, some of them participated in the series of short films Hay motivo!.

These mobilizations, together with those motivated by the Prestige disaster, marked the discontent of the citizens before the general elections in Spain in 2004, where in the end the PP lost the elections with the attacks of March 11 in Madrid as background frame.