WASHINGTON/LOS CABOS, Mexico (REUTERS) — Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Washington, D.C. and other cities to voice opposition to a possible U.S. war against Iraq, while the United States decried a U.N. “debate that never ends” over a tough new resolution to disarm Iraq.
“This is going to be an ugly, unnecessary fight. Most of the world is saying ‘no’ to it,” civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson told the crowd Saturday at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. “Pre-emptive, one-bullet diplomacy, we cannot resort to that.”
Tens of thousands of people — organizers said 150,000, although witnesses said between 40,000 and 50,000 — took part in the anti-war protest in the U.S. capital. Another 40,000 marched in San Francisco, with thousands more demonstrating in Berlin, Amsterdam and other cities.
A river of protesters flowed behind Jackson in a march to the White House to press the case that war against Iraq would be a tragic mistake. President Bush did not see the protesters because he was taking part in a summit of Pacific Rim leaders in Mexico.
With a skeptical Mexican President Vicente Fox by his side, Bush emphatically repeated Saturday that the United States would lead a coalition against Iraq if the United Nations failed to act to ensure that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein does not possess chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.
“If the U.N. does not pass a resolution which holds him (Saddam) to account and that has consequences, then, as I have said in speech after speech after speech, if the U.N. won’t act, if Saddam Hussein won’t disarm, we will lead a coalition to disarm him,” Bush said.
“We have reached the point where we have to make a few fundamental decisions in the early part of next week and go forward,” added Secretary of State Colin Powell, who also was in the Mexican beachside resort of Los Cabos for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. “We can’t continue to have a debate that never ends.”
The United States, with British support, has been pressing for six weeks for the 15-nation U.N. Security Council to approve a resolution intended to force Iraq to give up any weapons of mass destruction or face dire consequences.
But France and Russia have resisted the U.S. move and have floated their own draft of resolutions that eliminate some of the tough U.S. language. All five permanent members of the Security Council — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — possess the power to veto any resolution.
The U.S. resolution would give U.N. arms inspectors broad powers and privileges in uncovering any weapons-of-mass-destruction programs in Iraq. It also would declare Iraq in “material breach” of existing U.N. resolutions and would warn Iraq of “serious consequences” if it thwarts U.N. weapons inspections — language Russia and France fear that the United States can interpret as a trigger for military action even without a follow-up Security Council resolution.
Fox said he told Bush he hoped the United Nations could resolve the impasse but gave no indication whether he would back Bush’s demand for a resolution with consequences.
Fox said he hopes for “a resolution that will result in the prompt return of inspectors [and ensures] that Iraq complies with the existing agreements with the United Nations.”
Iraq agreed to give up chemical, biological and nuclear weapons following the 1991 Gulf War triggered by its invasion of neighboring Kuwait. The task of finding such arms was assigned to U.N. weapons inspectors. But they left before a 1998 U.S.-British bombing raid, ordered because Iraq allegedly was thwarting their efforts, and never have returned.
The march in Washington was boisterous but peaceful. “George Bush, you can’t hide. We charge you with genocide!” chanted the protesters, who were escorted by mounted U.S. Park Police and watched by 600 police officers as they made their way to the White House.
“Let us resist this war,” liberal activist actress Susan Sarandon told the cheering crowd. “Let us hate war in all its forms, whether the weapon used is a missile or an airplane.”
The protesters brandished signs reading: “No Proof, No War,” “Bush Sucks” and “Pre-emptive Impeachment.” Some protesters carried Iraqi flags. “No war, no way,” shouted a protester wearing a mask of Bush with horns and a pitchfork.
In San Francisco, known for its liberal politics and history of activism, a group of about 20 children led the parade as protesters carried signs bearing pictures of Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld beneath the words “weapons of mass destruction.”
In Germany, anti-war demonstrations were held in about 70 towns and cities. The largest was in Berlin, where almost 10,000 people marched. In Amsterdam, some 4,000 people rallied in heavy rain to protest against U.S. policy.
