redelk
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posted February 15, 2003 10:02 PM
 Edited By: redelk on 15 Feb 2003 22:38
Global anti-war protests - a bust or a success?
A while back, I said I would try to get a guy that went by "badboy" at LAB, banned if he posted any of his anti-war misinformation on this forum. Some might remember seeing his rallying cry...
JOIN THE REST OF THE WORLD SATURDAY FEBRUARY 15th AS 10 MILLION PEOPLE WORLDWIDE JOIN US ACROSS THE GLOBE TO MARCH AGAINST WAR AND MILITARISM.....
Well, today was his big day and here's how it turned out.
Rome - 800,000 (protesters say 3,000,000)
London - 750,000 (protesters say 2,000,000)
Madrid - 600,000
Barcelona - 500,000
Berlin - 500,000
Damascus - 200,000
Paris 100,000 (another 200,000 claimed in 59 other French cities)
New York - 100,000 (protesters say 200,000)
Melbourne - 150,000
Dublin - 80,000
Amsterdam - 70,000
Seville - 60,000
Oslo - 60,000
Athens - 50,000
Brussels - 50,000
Bern - 40,000
Stockholm - 35,000
Los Angeles - 30,000 (protesters say 100,000)
Glasgow - 30,000
Copenhagen - 25,000
Montreal - 20,000
Toronto - 15,000
Vienna - 15,000
Seattle - 11,500 (police - 8,000 to 15,000 / protesters - 20,000)
Thessaloniki - 10,000
Mexico City - 10,000
Tokyo - 5,000
Istanbul - 5,000
Capetown - 5,000
Auckland - 5,000
Wellington - 4,500
Johannesburg - 4,000
Canberra - 3,000
San Jose - 3,000
Tel Aviv - 2,000 (go figure)
Jordan - 2,000
Dhaka - 2,000
Kiev - 2,000
Sofia - 2,000
Bangkok - 2,000
Kuala Lumpur - 1,500
Brazil - 1,500
Puerto Rico - 900
Hong Kong - 600
Prague - 500
Cyprus - 500
Moscow - 300
Almaty - 50
Singapore - 2 (protesting is outlawed)
Total - 4,663,852*
* - protest totals from Baghdad do not count
Cities and countries not reported by the various news outlets could push the total to close to 5,000,000.
Sources - World News Net, BBC, CNN, Fox News, San Francisco News Net, Seattle News Net, Chicago News Net, Mercury News and various others
Pretty impressive numbers, eh? Not quite the 10 million badboy and his ilk dreamed about, though. As a matter of fact, Chicago, one of the protesters key cities, drew "hundereds" according to WBBM-TV in Chicago. I guess it was the weather.
Now, let's put all this in perspective, shall we?
A poll by Opinion Dynamics Corporation was conducted by telephone January 29-30, 2003 in the evenings. The sample was 900 registered voters nationwide with a margin of error of ± 3%. The results were that 67% supported President Bush in going to war to disarm Saddam. 21% did not and 12% were not sure. So, lets play with some more "numbers".
The population of the U.S., according to the 2000 census is 286,196,812. Assuming ZERO growth in the past 2+ years, 21% would be 60,101,331. If ALL of the close to five million protesters were in the U.S., they would account for 8.3% of just those who said in the poll, they were against war. Even if we took the "adult" population of the U.S. (19 and above), which is 226,095,481, that same 21% who said "no war" would be 47,480,051.
Golly Oscars! That would mean that if ALL those protesters were in the U.S., instead of being scattered around the globe, they would eek out around 10.5% of the total U.S. adult population... that said "no war" in the poll, of course. Bringing in the TOTAL numbers, the global total of protesters would make up 1.7% of the total U.S. population and 2.2% of the total U.S. adult population. I guess they really need to work on the 18.8% that said "no war"?
Ah... but this was a WORLD WIDE EVENT, was it not? So, if we are "playing with numbers", we should at least be accurate, right? Okay... the estimated global population in 2000 was 6,082,966,429. Since children of all ages were at these protests, there's no need to break it down into "adult" numbers.
What is that "magic number"? Giving the protesters credit for 5,000,000, it works out to a whopping .082%. MY GAWD! Even if they drew the 10 million they dreamed of (and will naturally claim) that would be an amazing 0.16% of the world's population.
To put all of this in a REAL perspective view, in various polls taken during 1997, 7% in the U.S. and 9% world wide... think Elvis is still alive.
I think the anti-war folks need to dump there current list of stars and political wannabes and get Elvis to join their ranks. Wait... didn't Elvis join the U.S. Army in 1958 and say after his tour, ""The Army made a man of me. I was glad for the experience."? Hmmmm... they might try Jimmy Hoffa, but his "numbers" are not as good.
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harryzx-12
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posted February 15, 2003 10:07 PM
I don't particulary want war but we need to go finish the job we started in desert storm.We shoulda smoke checked Saddam I'll fuck a goat Hussein then . All those protesters can suck a whole buncha my dick!  .
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Hells Dark Lord
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posted February 15, 2003 10:40 PM
bottom line...they are entitled to their opinions, and we are to ours....and here in a few weeks, despite the protests, we are going in to Iraq to take Saddam down, they can protest all they wasnt, but the us is tired of getting bitch slapped by his punk ass and we are going out to the playground to settle it....
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redelk
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posted February 15, 2003 10:52 PM
... and ELVIS LIVES!
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There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.
-Ernest Hemingway
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Hells Dark Lord
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posted February 15, 2003 11:08 PM
I know..J and K said he just went home remember.....
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Mr Bear
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posted February 16, 2003 02:48 AM
Edited By: Mr Bear on 16 Feb 2003 02:51
Right on, HDL. The thing is, if we win & wrap it up, all the whiners and naysayers will get over it PDQ. Everybody loves a winner, and even the crybabies line up to kiss a winner's ass. The longer we put it off, the bigger & bloodier it will be when it finally comes. Time to take care of business.
Hey Redelk! Just had to check in on your thread, Bro.
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freek
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posted February 16, 2003 02:51 AM
i for one was pretty surprised at the good turnout. we all know protests that big/well organized are rare. that doesnt change the fact that they'r not livin in reality, but...
i for one am getting really sick of all the anti-war/american shit going on, from the granny in times square to (especially) the french foreign minister. how much more time/dialogue/chances do they wanna give saddam?!? how long does it take them to realize he is NOT going to cooperate? they'r not gonna agree with military action (even tho the original UN mandate called for it) until a nuke is dropped on their city. i get pissed every damn time i open the newspaper. "oh but look, he's cooperating more now". so? he's no cooperating 100%, and anythign less than that, considering the seriousness of the issue, is not acceptable. if manson agreed not to recruit any new members into his cult, but still kept killing the ones he already had, would we say that's ok cause he's cooperating in part? hell no! i'm as opposed to war as anyone, but even i'm sick of this shit. just kill his ass. people talk as if america is gonna flatten every building they see and kill ever cilivial they come across. wtf?!? why the hell would they bother? they'r gonna get in there as quick as they can, kill/capture saddam & his cohorts, and help the people set up a govt to take care of themselves. i dont see america having any interest or intentions to wage their own jihad against muslims. many if not most reports suggest the civilians and half the army are just gonna wave US troops thru anyway (i definitely hope so). this would just be so fuckin funny if not a single person on either side were killed other than saddam, his highest co-criminals, and prolly the few whackjobs of his national guard who actually fight for him.
anyway, back to the protests. jsut damn glad they stayed calm. all we needed was for some rookie cops to get a little antsy & start a clash. prolly woulda swayed public opinion against the US govt and the war in general had that happened. for ONCE, EVERYONE on BOTH SIDES stayed calm. i like to see that!
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Hells Dark Lord
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posted February 16, 2003 03:51 AM
Freek the last time we were there the people of Iraq were so happy to see us, we gave them food and water, and medical supplies. Most of desert storm was a humanitarian effort....help the citizens.. That is something that the French and the UN doesnt see, if we go there, we are helping in more ways than one....rid them of him, give them a government that works, adn humaitarian as well....
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Y2KZX12R
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posted February 16, 2003 05:34 AM
Check out this web site. It seems to be accurate, but theres no way to really know.
http://www.debka.com/
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slug
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posted February 16, 2003 08:42 AM
the naysayers will just say it is the us govt taking control of all the media on the planet
maybe it is biased, but if the news agencies all report about the same thing, either they are all in league with each other plotting to make bigger & better news stories, or it's mostly accurate
but it is just easier for ones of low intellect to just say "it's a plot!!"
  
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Hells Dark Lord
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posted February 16, 2003 11:06 AM
personally the only thing I care to hear anyone say is that I am coming home....the rest is just a delay, and I got asses to stomp at DG5.....lmao
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PaulVincent
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posted February 16, 2003 11:15 AM
This war is a must. Saddam must die.
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addisonzx12
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posted February 16, 2003 03:19 PM
Does anyone remember, why all this Iraq stuff started this time? I know, he has been lieing, screwing us, blah, blah, blah for 12+ years now. But, exactly WHAT triggered this action by us? I mean EXACTLY, what changed on that exact day that Bush started this stuff? Why not the day before, month before, whatever. What exactly happened? Does anyone know? Did Hussein call Bush's wife ugly or something? You don't think it could of been to divert our(the US) attention from our faltering economy? I for one, will NEVER completely trust ANY politician. Even the President.
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slug
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posted February 16, 2003 04:50 PM
hrmmmm
he invade kuwait.....that was the ultimate start.
as far as most recent round of trash talking goes, ithink it is the resolution time limit ending for the proof of disarmament
i could be wrong, i mean the government is all lying about this cuz it is all for the oil ya know
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ddpete3
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posted February 16, 2003 05:58 PM
Redelk, As far as the anti-war and protests numbers go, not everyone that is against war shows up to protest with all the lunatics that have 100 different agendas. I watched the DC/MLK JR day peace rally for a while on CSPAN and even though I'm not a big fan of war, I wouldn't show up to hear them yell about their purpose and what website to visit(depending on who was yelling at the time).
If you ask me if we should go to war, I say no. If you ask me to go to a rally and listen to a bunch of freaks, I also choose to say no.
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Mr Bear
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posted February 16, 2003 09:09 PM
Edited By: Mr Bear on 16 Feb 2003 21:15
Exactly, ddpete! If you have misgivings about going to war (I sure do), it still doesn't make sense to me to go march in protests which are organized by a bunch of people who have their own selfish political motives. Those people are not only dupes for Saddam Hussein, but they are also dupes for a bunch of Communist kooks and other extremist political wack jobs.
Addison, Saddam did try to have G.W. Bush's father assassinated, as well as Bill Clinton and Clinton's Sec. of Defense, William Cohen. That alone is enough reason for me to want to see him taken out.
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Hells Dark Lord
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posted February 16, 2003 09:27 PM
NOt to mention we cant have a lunatic like Saddam runnign around weiht weapons of mass destrucktion, can you imagine the possibilities if he got a ful up NUke program going, or for that mater a BIO program....can you say SMALL POX...inagine what that would do to the world, or what about anthrax.. he has the means of delivery.
I personally think he has always had it comming, and with the events of 9/11, and his ties to Osama, and his organization, there is a potiential threat there for all kinds of bad things.
The us has been bitch slapped over and over for the last 12 years, its time we quit turning the other cheek and slap his silly ass back.
Saddam knows that we are comming, and he knows he cant stop us....mark my words as i write them now: He will give up 2 or 3 of his key people, execute them and claim they were hiding stuff without his knowledge, he will then let the US come in and do inspections, in SOME areas, and he will give up SOME of his weapons. Then the world and the pussy as UN will beg us not to go, say he is trying to comply... It will look like we are bullies if we do, so we wont, and we will sit here in Kuwait, costing the taxpayers of the US a fortune to maintain the force here. Then after months of sitting here they will send us home. Only to do this agin in 12 more years....at which time I will hav elong since been retired and so the young guys can come sit ehre again, I am riding, anyone care to join me.... 
Just my opinion fellas, that is all....i hope we either go kick his ass and come home, or just come home, I am scheduled to fly home one month from tomorrow, we shall see, I dont think that is gonna happen...later guys
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freek
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posted February 16, 2003 09:28 PM
tell ya one thing that always strikes me as very odd.. a couple things actually. seems the more vocal end of these protests do tend to be related to communism, or at least this is what i understand. but communists protesting against war is just fucking ludicrous! let us review:
- communism calls for the use of force to further the communist goals
- communism does not allow for protests. the only demonstrations allowed are those that are organized by and for the communist party, and those are mandatory!
- communism's primary concern is the welfare of it's people. saddam is not a communist and does NOT care for the welfare of his people.
let me say that the above points speak of communism as it is defined (marx & engel's manifesto), and how it was commonly practiced in europe over the past 60 years. individual "communist" states may vary, as the label of communist is often, if not always, used as a cover for a power hungry madman who doesnt actually believe in or follow many of the commandments of communism.
in short, communists protesting against war (this war in particular) is incredibly hypocritical.
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Hells Dark Lord
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posted February 17, 2003 12:49 AM
if I remember my history right, the ideal communist state is almost a perfect government order. The problem being as freek said, the individualists that turn it around to suit their needs and desires..from what I have gathered is that most claimed communist states are actually more closely related to a dictatorship as apposed to communism.
personally I think they can keep them all, and I will stay in the good ole US of A....
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slug
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posted February 17, 2003 04:18 AM
we just have to make sure we keep the socialists at home under control...
billary et al
(hollywood? yeh all those pole smokers too)
a lot of those actors who did a decent job in the recent rash of war movies can all go sit on saddam hussein's missiles and spin. they dothese little commentaries on how great a job hte soldiers do, then they turn around and stab you folks in the back by completely dissin ya.
and we won't even get in to the likes of hanoi jane fonda and HER cronies (like barbara streisand etc)
to anyone that really thinks that we ENJOY going to war, putting our people at risk and having to spend the resources on an occupation or police force, (which is at the whim, beck, and call of the united nitwits) should take a deep look at why they beelive this.
they cry warmongers etc, yet no-one EVER considers the situation except for "oh those warmongering americans are at it again"
does anyone find it odd that the UN conference for disarmament in may of this year will be presided by iran and iraq?!?!? define irony....
hussein has *passed a law* against weapons of mass destruction. wow, the bedwetters in the UN and in the US are all giggling in relief.
get a clue people....if history of the past 12 years has not caused you to wake up and smell the coffee, then it's time to get your nose checked.
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Otis
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posted February 17, 2003 04:30 AM
You can trust that if half the people at these protests knew who they were standing next to, they wouldn't be there. The groups sponsoring these events are more dangerous to our way of life than Saddam.
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moodybluezx12r
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posted February 17, 2003 06:20 AM
quote:
Does anyone remember, why all this Iraq stuff started this time? I know, he has been lieing, screwing us, blah, blah, blah for 12+ years now. But, exactly WHAT triggered this action by us? I mean EXACTLY, what changed on that exact day that Bush started this stuff? Why not the day before, month before, whatever. What exactly happened? Does anyone know? Did Hussein call Bush's wife ugly or something? You don't think it could of been to divert our(the US) attention from our faltering economy? I for one, will NEVER completely trust ANY politician. Even the President.
to hide the bad economy..i agree..and i am a veteran of the 82nd airborne division and alot of my friends have been recently deployed to the area..i hope he (bush) finds something because i would hate for friends of mine to die because he (bush) was trying to avert attention from the U.S. economy..now as far as terroist..kill all of them..hell i'll go to fight in that war (they attacked us)..by the way..how come bin laden's not dead?..i wonder why he dropped off of bush's radar?
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Otis
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posted February 17, 2003 06:25 AM
Please guys do you know how stupid you sound saying that? Hide the bad economy? You've got to be kidding me. That's about as stupid as people who say we're going to war for the oil. I'll tell you, the lack of common sense these days is amazing.
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redelk
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posted February 17, 2003 06:35 AM
This is hardly the "Wag the Dog" practices of the previous administration. Don't get me started about clinton, either. Ya'll have only had to deal will Slick Willy for eight years and Hillary R. for ten. I've had to bear witness and suffer under them for decades. Arkansas has yet to recover from their trail of distruction and deception.
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moodybluezx12r
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posted February 17, 2003 06:48 AM
and dont get me started on bush..the boozing, drug addict, dummy..
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