Rochdale
and Littleborough Peace Group has been marking the tenth
anniversary of Britain's biggest ever anti-war demonstration
which was held in London
on Saturday 15 February 2003
. At their stall in Yorkshire Street on Saturday morning (16
February 2013), they reminded Rochdale's shoppers that ten
years ago they had joined between one and two million people
in London and millions more around the world in an effort to
stop George
Bush's and Tony Blair’s plans to invade Iraq.Their leaflet told people that "Since NATO’s invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, more than 600 British troops have been killed in pointless foreign wars." and that "These same wars have killed and injured tens of thousands of civilians— men, women and children.", adding that "Now, in 2013, NATO’s disastrous war in Afghanistan still takes lives on a daily basis; British troops are bound for Mali and drones are regularly taking the lives of innocent civilians in Afghanistan and Pakistan." They said that "It is time to bring the troops home and to tell the government that we want no more of their wars."
The
Peace Group asked people to join them in urging MPs Jim
Dobbin and Simon Danczuk to support Early Day Motion 1055 in
Parliament and collected more than 100 signatures in support
of calls to express deep regret "that the war went ahead and
that the will of the people was ignored" and for the view
that "any decision to engage in armed conflict should be
subject to prior approval via a free vote in Parliament
rather than relying on prerogative power."
"In 2003, we were packed so tightly in the streets that we could not move. It was obvious that this was a huge demonstration and there was a great sense of solidarity and purpose. We knew that regardless of whether we were two million people or one million people, we represented the overwhelming view of ordinary people in Britain. We rejected Bush and Blair's war. There was no need to invade Iraq and when the invasion took place, I felt that the politicians had betrayed me. A country was going to be destroyed and thousands of innocent children, women and men would be killed. Remembering Iraq reminds us of the futility and horror of war. It should make us more determined than ever to say no to war.”
