Anti-War Marches Draw Hundreds of Thousands

[babylonsister]

January 29th, 2007 2:19 am
Anti-War Marches Draw Hundreds of Thousands

By Aaron Glantz / IPS

WASHINGTON, Jan 28 - Peace activists from across the United States gathered in Washington Sarturday for what they said was the largest demonstration to date against the Iraq war.

"It's time for a new day," the Reverend Jesse Jackson told what organisers estimated as a crowd of 500,000 demonstrators gathered outside the halls of Congress on the National Mall.

"We do not need more troops in Iraq, we need more money at home," Jackson said. "We need a vision of hope over fear, of preparing smart children not smart bombs. A vision realising that right makes might; might does not make right."

The demonstration, which was pulled together by an umbrella group called United for Peace and Justice, also featured speeches by a half dozen antiwar Congresspeople.

Among them was a founder of Congress' "Out of Iraq Caucus," Maxine Waters, a California Democrat, who pledged not to vote "one dime for this war".

more...

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=9104

[mnhtnbb]

1. Finally, a more truthful estimate of attendance!

[Norquist Nemesis]

3. When I heard the cables "report" Tens of Thousands

I knew it was BIG in numbers and I could safely add at least one zero to the end of what they were toning down.

[countingbluecars]

2. That's more like it. eom

[babylonsister]

4. Yep. Finally a truthful number! nt

[Captain Hilts]

5. I think 200K is a more accurate guess.

It was nowhere near as large as the last women's rights march, which attracted 700K.

And 200K is a VERY good turnout considering: it's January, it was bitterly cold the day before and day after, there were local demonstrations in other cities.

Say it loud, we were 200K and proud!

[Daylin Byak]

6. Wait a minute 200k?

I heard on Glenn Beck today that the march only drew 10k so which one is it?

[KKKarl is an idiot]

14. Lets not get carried away

Even if the entire 300 million population turned out: "The decider" has still made his decision. So Glenn Beck might have well said 10 people turned out including Sean Penn & Jane Fonda.

[babylonsister]

7. The organizers estimated 500,000.

http://www.democracynow.org/

Protest organizers United For Peace and Justice estimated 500,000 took part in the demonstration. In California, smaller rallies were held in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Sacramento. In Washington, marchers converged on the National Mall for a two-hour rally. The crowd included people who came on 300 buses from 40 states.

[Captain Hilts]

8. Organizers always over-estimate crowd counts. That's universal.

They have a great interest in doing so.

It was a very good-sized crowd. It was not nearly as big as the pre-war rallies. It was not as big as the women's rights march of 700K.

They have a lot to be proud of without ginning up the crowd total. It was a great success.

It's not easy getting these things going in January. And they had rallies going in many other cities that were well-attended. So, they have a lot to brag about legitimately.

[babylonsister]

9. Your guess is as good as their guess is. The people I went with

who were there in September 05 (guesstimate was 1/2 million) thought this rally drew more people.
I guess none of us will ever know.

[Captain Hilts]

11. I was there too. I don't think it was nearly that large. But it was more than large enough...

to make a strong statement.

Now, if people would just shut the fuck up about Jane Fonda....I KNEW this would happen...

[Fire Walk With Me]

10. Wow, I didn't know how many cities had protest marches:

Mobile, AL; Anchorage, AK; Tucson, AZ; Eureka, CA; Los Angeles, CA; Palm Springs, CA; San Diego, CA; San Francisco, CA; San Jose, CA; Boulder, CO; Denver, CO; Grand Junction, CO; New Haven, CT; Stamford, CT; Daytona Beach, FL; Port Charlotte, FL; Weeki Wachee, FL; Champaign, IL; Mishawaka, IN; Louisville, KY; Ellsworth, ME; New Bedford, MA; Minneapolis, MN; Albuquerque, NM; Glens Falls, NY; Larchmont, NY; Nanuet, NY; Wooster, OH; Oklahoma City, OK; Eugene, OR; Pendleton, OR; Montrose, PA; Charleston, SC; Columbia, SC; Rock Hill, SC; Austin, TX; Dallas, TX; Denton, TX; Brattleboro, VT; Bremerton, WA; Seattle, WA; Green Bay, WI; Madison, WI

Thanks for posting! This wouldn't have shown up on MSM.

[Breeze54]

17. There were over 1,000 anti-war marches on Saturday!

DC had the biggest crowd though!

HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS!! More accurate! :applause: :applause:

I heard/read that SF had 4,000 people marching! :woohoo:

[harveyc]

12. What does it matter?

The message was loud and clear!

Most reliable, unbiased source I could find for the number marching was here:

Seattle Times / Washington Post ...

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003544852_protest28.html

[DCguy]

13. Oh, barf. Overestimating is for liars.

I was there. There were about 100,000 people there at the most dense gathering.

It doesn't mean is wasn't effective, it just means that you can't say there were 500,000 people there...because there weren't.

It makes this cause look silly when the overestimations are so blatant.

On the other hand, it makes the other side look just as silly to say, "There were only 10,000 or so hippies at that thing."

And on that, the reason for the discrepancies is that there is no official estimation of crowd size. Typically, that is done by the Parks Service, but -- for whatever reason -- it was not done this weekend.

Still...good time, and perfect weather.

[oasis]

15. Try adding the total of participating cities to "your" DC figures before calling a poster "liar".

:spank:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

16. So is underestimating.

[Breeze54]

18. You'll last long here...not!!

There were well over 100,000 people marching.
How the hell do you know if you were 'in' the middle of the crowd?

Dumbass