[BBC online - 11/18/01] The campaigners gathered in Trafalgar Square Thousands of demonstrators have held a rally in London to protest against the war in Afghanistan.
Organisers estimated that 100,000 had marched from Hyde Park to Trafalgar Square for the event, although the police say the numbers were nearer 15,000.
Many protesters waved placards reading "Stop the War" and "Not in My Name" and a number of British Muslims held prayers for peace on mats placed on the ground.
Marches have taken place in Glasgow, Australia, western European capitals and even the US since the Allies' bombing campaign began. 
The Muslim Parliament of Great Britain have joined CND and the Socialist Workers' Party in supporting the anti-war movement.
War aims
A small number of MPs have also voiced their opposition to military action in the House of Commons.
Ex-Labour MP Tony Benn told the rally he hoped Sunday marked the start of a movement for world peace.
He said parliament was "passive" and Tony Blair's cabinet was "cringing" in its failure to question the UK's role in the bombing campaign.
Stop the War committee member Mike Marqusee said he was delighted with the "very diverse" turn out.
"We are hoping to send out a clear message that Tony Blair does not speak for Britain and we hope that message carries across Britain and across the world," he said.
"We believe that this march reflects both the scale and diversity of anti-war opinion in this country.
"Our campaign will not end until the war ends and Britain and the US stop the bombing."
'Tyranny'
Labour MP Alan Simpson told the crowd: "When people say 'the bombing has won, the Taleban have been driven out', I say that it is not the answer at all.
"We have seen the removal of one feudal tyranny, only for it to be replaced by another."
Fellow Labour MP Paul Marsden accused Tony Blair of being "drunk with power" in his handling of the war on terrorism.
He told the rally: "You are sending another powerful message to Number 10 and to the White House that we are not simply going to allow the atrocities of September 11 to be replaced with further atrocities in Afghanistan."
Civil rights campaigner Bianca Jagger criticised US president George Bush for his Wild West approach to the situation and said he was guilty of stirring up "lynch mob retribution".
Organiser Lindsey German said the bombing campaign had done nothing to tackle international terrorism.
"The war aims were never to install the Northern Alliance into Afghanistan to replace the Taleban.
"Most people who know anything about both regimes regard the Northern Alliance as just as bad.
"Meanwhile terrorism continues and will continue because the real roots of terrorism have not been dealt with and are not being dealt with in this war."
Over 100,000 join London March against War
by Paul Davidson
[11/18/01] I have just arrived back from the biggest protest march in London since the early 1970's. 100,000 people from a myriad of different groups and communities participated in a three mile hike from Hyde Park to Trafalgar Square (which one speaker - Tariq Ali - informed the audience was named after the Arabic name Tarif i Algar, being the straits separating Spain from North Africa.)
The demonstration was peaceful and spirited with many drummers and musicians plus clowns on stilts (no, I am not talking about the British politicians whose absence was either worth noting or worth nothing). Favourite chants included all the usual but also Arabic chants and songs from the strong Muslim contingents. Near the front of the procession was a bloc of 150 teenage Muslim girls who intervened militantly with slogans and chants. The tail end was still leaving the park as the front end entered the Square where a succession of speakers condemned the infamous bombing and brutality of the US-UK military madness.
Hundreds of different leaflets and flyers were given out. I did not get the whole set so I cannot send off for my free Pokemon. I gave out 1,000 copies of Cuban foreign minister Perez-Roque's UN speech of 13 November, which is an excellent summary of Cuba's position. The leaflet was very well received with people dashing through the crowd to grab copies.
The action was organised by the Stop The War coalition here in Britain. Personally I had expected a smaller turnout than last month's protest but instead the size was double the previous. This reflected most strongly the fact that people had not been taken in by the propaganda that the media and politicians have pumped out this last week, namely that 1) The war is all but over so why bother protesting and 2) that the fall of Kabul 'proves' war is an effective means to fight terrorism. Indeed we have heard today that the Empire's forces have begun using B52's to dislodge Taleban forces from the remaining hold-outs in the north. Specifically this means that they have stepped up the offensive and are now carpet bombing whole cities. This is truly diabolical!
For Britain and the U.S., once they have succeeded in reigning the Taleban back into the fold their next aim will be to marginalise or destroy the Northern Alliance which is the force that has blockaded the road to Russia for the last five years. For this war is the first in a succession of wars that will be fought in Central Asia and all across the southern flank of Asian Russia in order to tighten the steel band around that once great superpower. If that is the case, the anti-war movement will need to show a political maturity that has not been evident in the past. It will need to move from reactive politics towards ongoing mobilisation so as not to be wrong-footed. Analysis of US war aims has been superficial and leaves us facing south (Afghanistan) while the Empire is already preparing the big push north (Russia).
But what is becoming clearer to all is that ever since the so-called end of the Cold War the succession of regional wars led by NATO form a pattern. This new Hot War takes place all around the borders of the former Soviet Union from the Baltic to the Balkans and from China to Chechnya. It is driven by US competition with German dominated Europe and is in fact a life or death issue for a fading hegemonic power. Today's demonstration is a welcome sign that we will be up to the task
[posted 11/27/01]
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