Protesters say ‘Execution = escalation’

Within 16 hours of the news that U.S. occupation authorities had hanged Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, demonstrators in at least three U.S. cities—Detroit, Boston and New York—were on the streets to warn the public about this new war crime and new threat to escalate the war on Iraq. A few days later a similar protest took place in San Diego.

In Detroit, Abayomi Azikiwe, left, editor of the Pan-African News Wire, addressed the group gathered at the Federal Building on Michigan Avenue on behalf of MECAWI. WW photo: Cheryl LaBash

The first call arose from the Michigan Emergency Committee Against War in Iraq (MECAWI), on Dec. 29, and was quickly followed by a statement from the International Action Center urging such protests.

Placards and signs in Times Square read “Execution = Escalation, Bring the troops home” and “Who gave U.S. war criminals license to murder Saddam Hussein?” The demonstrations emphasized two main points: that President George W. Bush intends to escalate the war against the Iraqi people and that the murder of Saddam Hussein was another in a long list of U.S. war crimes against the Iraqi people.

Times Square protest of the excution of Saddam Hussein on Dec. 30. WW photo: G. Dunkel

In Detroit, Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire, addressed the group gathered at the Federal Building on Michigan Avenue on behalf of MECAWI. Another group protested in downtown Boston. Sara Flounders, co-director of the IAC, was the main spokesperson in Times Square, but the dozens of media present interviewed many of the 40 or so participants.

The demonstrations took the form of public news conferences. While they did not have the mass participation of protests in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Palestine and Jordan, not to mention in Iraq itself, the protests in the U.S. made an important point: Even in the center of world imperialism, where Saddam Hussein has been demonized for 16 years, people were angry about his lynching and about the U.S. role in Iraq.

Those interviewed were strong in bringing out the main messages of the demonstration, and no one retreated before hostile questions by the media. Everyone stuck to the position that the U.S. has no right to execute an Iraqi leader, that this is a war crime, and that Washington is filled with war criminals who are plotting the next escalation.

The demonstrations, especially in Times Square but also in Detroit and Boston, got much more than the usual media coverage. Local New York television news programs carried interviews with protesters, as did many radio stations. An Associated Press article went out to its subscribers all over the world.

Showing how skeptical the public is over Washington’s war in Iraq, there was much friendly response to the protests and hardly any hostile comments.