Iraq War Protest
In 2003 public opinion around the world was against the Iraq war. From 2002 until 2003 the world erupted into thousands of protests as people spoke out in their individual countries against the U.S. decision to invade Iraq. Between January 3rd and April 12th, 2003 it is estimated that more than 36 million people around the world took part in more than 3,000 protests. On February 15th, numerous countries collaborated on one worldwide day of protest against the decision of the United Stated to enter into war against Iraq.
In November of 2002 a British group called Globalise Resistance proposed the idea of a day of protest throughout Europe. Numerous anti-war groups joined in and word spread quickly that everyone was going to stand together to speak out against a war that threatened to bring many of their countries to war. More than 600 cities became hosts to the protests. The protest in Rome, Italy drew more than 3 million people and is listed in the Guinness Book of Records are the largest protest in history. As many as 2 million showed in Madrid.
The protest in London drew more than a million people as well. In France and Germany, hundreds of thousands marched in protest. In the United States 150 cities hosted hundreds of thousands of protesters. Estimates put the worldwide total of protesters on February 15 at up to 30 million.
Despite the massive protests against the war, nothing was accomplished. Protests continued periodically but they never reached the same strength, largely because it became obvious that world leaders were not listening. The United States still invaded Iraq and many of her allies still joined in the fight. Many politicians argued that public opinion was actually in favor of the war and that the number of people at a protest was not an indicator of public opinion.