Posted on 11/19/2003 8:59:36 AM PST by SJackson
President Bush and his spokesman have welcomed the planned "anti-war" and anti-Bush demonstrations in Britain as an example of free speech. But what the President and his administration ought to be doing is exposing and confronting the anti-American forces behind them. We certainly can’t expect the media to tell the American people that communists, socialists, radical Muslims and other America-haters are organizing the protests.
"I am so pleased to be going to a country which says that people are allowed to express their mind," said President Bush. "That’s fantastic."
At the daily White House press briefing on Monday, Scott McClellan said,
"…democracy is a wonderful thing. Freedom of speech and the right to peacefully assemble are the very foundation of our democracy. They are fundamental rights the people of the United States and United Kingdom hold dear, and many in the world yearn for."
These are nice words, and we all support free speech. But these are not spontaneous demonstrations of conscientious objectors who oppose all war. Some of the key groups and individuals want America to fail in Iraq, and they want American soldiers to die there.
The "Stop the War Coalition" behind the protests includes former member of Parliament George Galloway on its steering committee. Galloway was expelled from the ruling Labor Party for having told British soldiers in Iraq they should disobey orders to fight. Galloway, who visited Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in 2002, was labeled the British representative of "Baghdad Central." He has sued Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper for reporting evidence that he had been in the pay of the Iraqi government.
Other individuals on the steering committee include Mohammed Aslam Aijaz of the London Council of Mosques, Lois Austin of the Socialist Party, Lindsey German of Socialist Review, John Haylett of the British Communist Party newspaper Morning Star, Mark Hoskisson of Workers Power, John Rees of the Socialist Workers Party, Carlos Rule of the Socialist Labour Party, Tanja Salem Al-Awda of the Campaign for Palestinian Rights, and Wolf Wayne of the Green Socialist Network and Socialist Alliance.
(Excerpt) Read more at aim.org ...
REUTERS, Tuesday November 18, 09:50 PM: A demonstrator holds a banner depicting U.S. President George W. Bush in an anti-climate change protest in central London on Tuesday. The demonstration was held to coincide with Bush's arrival in Britain on Tuesday evening for the start of a four-day state visit.
Useful Idiot at REUTERS: "When Bush pledged to change the climate in Washington, we didn't know that he meant the whole planet, that he was for longer crop growing seasons and lower heating bills, and against starvation and hypothermia. Nobody told us."
The custume industry apparently. What better way to get rid of their post-Halloween surplusses?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.