USA TODAY
Posted 3/23/2003 6:40 PM — Updated 3/23/2003 9:46 PM
By John Ritter
SAN FRANCISCO — By its own reckoning, the anti-war movement had a good week. Cities across the USA saw large demonstrations. Thousands of protesters were arrested for acts of civil disobedience. Weekend marches here and in New York and Chicago drew tens of thousands of people into the streets. The allied military’s “shock and awe” assault on Baghdad energized resistance to new levels of anger and determination, activists say.
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Nonetheless, the anti-war movement, while loud and sometimes disruptive, is not yet galvanizing public opinion the way its Vietnam War predecessor did. Protesters turned out over the weekend in smaller numbers than before the war: 125,000 in New York compared with 500,000 on Feb. 16; 200,000 in London compared with 750,000 a month ago.
Polls show that the public is giving President Bush the bump in support presidents typically enjoy at the start of hostilities. More than two-thirds of voters still back his Iraq policies. And at some protests, war supporters turned out to counter the opposition.
Americans remain wary of protest. A USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll over the weekend found that a tiny percentage had attended a protest or made a public display of war opposition. Two-thirds were unsympathetic when protest disrupts.
