today's anti-American protests in Pakistan AND India (PHOTOS)

[diamond14]

Thousands of Pakistani Shiite Muslims hold placards and party flags during an anti US protest rally in Lahore, Pakistan on Sunday, May 30, 2004 against the alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners and desecration of the holy Muslim sites of Najaf and Karbala in Iraq (news - web sites). (AP Photo/K M Chaudhry)



Indian Muslim demonstrators carry anti-U.S. placards during a protest rally against the U.S. in the northern Indian city of Lucknow May 30, 2004. Thousands of Indian Muslims on Sunday staged a protest against the U.S.-led coalition, demanding the end to prisoners abuse; the immediate release of Iraqi prisoners; and the withdrawal of U.S-led forces in Iraq (news - web sites). REUTERS/Pawan Kumar



Indian Muslim demonstrators carry banners and placards during a protest rally against the U.S. in the northern Indian city of Lucknow May 30, 2004. Thousands of Indian Muslims on Sunday staged a protest against the U.S-led coalition, demanding the end to prisoner abuse, the immediate release of Iraqi prisoners and the withdrawal of U.S-led forces in Iraq (news - web sites). REUTERS/Pawan Kumar


Activists of a local women's organization in the central Indian city of Bhopal shout anti-US and anti-Britain slogans during a protest May 29, 2004. Dozens of demonstrators on Saturday took to the streets denouncing U.S.-led forces that they said were responsible for the damage on the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf, the holiest shrine in Iraq (news - web sites). REUTERS/Raj Patidar



Kashmiri lawyers shout slogans during an anti-America protest in Srinagar May 29, 2004. Dozens of Kashmiri lawyers took to the streets of Srinagar denouncing U.S. forces who they say are responsible for the firing of rockets or mortars that damaged the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf, the holiest Shi'ite site in Iraq (news - web sites). REUTERS/Danish Ismail



Pakistani Shi'ite Muslims protestors chant anti-U.S. slogans during a demonstration against the war in Iraq (news - web sites) in Islamabad on May 28, 2004. Shiite Muslims staged demonstrations across Pakistan after Friday prayers to condemn U.S. military operations in holy cities in Iraq. REUTERS/Mian Khursheed


A Pakistani boy holds a placard during a protest against the U.S. led occupation of Iraq (news - web sites) in Karachi May 28, 2004. REUTERS/Zahid Hussein

[Radical Activist]

1. He's a Uniter

Talk about Unity! What other President besides Bush could have gotten India and Pakistan to be so close together on an issue? The whole world hates US now.

[mot78]

2. I wouldn't call it "unity" between India and Pakistan

Indian Muslims often get into clashes with Hindus, and a number of Indian Muslims sympathize with Pakistanis (Pakistanis essentially ARE Indian Muslims). I don't see massive numbers of Hindus protesting against us.

[NNN0LHI]

18. Of course the Hindus aren't protesting

They are too busy answering the phone banks for companies that used to hire Americans to do these jobs. Busy, busy, busy.

Don

[maggrwaggr]

3. yeah but they're just muslims! Who cares what they think?

nuke 'em all!
:eyes:

[Veggie Meathead]

4. The Hindus, Christians, Buddhists and Sikhs in India are very

pro-US and pro Bush now after being subjected to terrorist attacks originating in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Chechnya and other Muslim
countries.India has gotten very close to Israel because of these terrorist threats.The Muslim community in India is upset whenever holy Muslim shrines are threatened, otherwise its sympathies are decidedly against the terrorists.

[diamond14]

6. dream on....the bush* approach has de-stabilized the whole region

all across Asia and the Middle East AND the country of Georgia...crisis are brewing...there are very few people, outside of America, who view the issue as a 'terrorists' issue....it would probably help for Americans to stop spouting out this bush* religiously-insane rhetoric about 'terrorists'... reminds me of my childhood where the fear of 'communists' ran high and continuous air raid alert and nuke bomb drills kept that fear alive and well while war-profiteers looting the U.S. Treasury....

Hindus and Jews will NOT be spared in bush*'s CRUSADE...

:nuke:

[candy331]

10. Amen! Amen n/t

[Bhaisahab]

16. that's a fair assessment...

....the majority of the population here is "pro bush" without even having the vaguest sense of understanding as to what exactly bush has done to america and the world.
the educated middle classes here are as apathetic as their counterparts in the US. they just want mo money, mo malls, mo malt. the rest of the country, and the world, can go sort themselves out.
sad but true. india is the 3rd world america.
:(

[heidiho]

5. Isn't It Great How The World Loves Our Resident!

I love "When Bush Comes to Shove - Resist"

[frankly_fedup2]

7. One thing I have found amazing with a lot of the

middle east countries. They have the best posters made, the best banners money can buy. The funerals for their so-called martyrs is like a huge protest except the body is passed around like in a mosh pit. Also, there are always so many young male children as part of all of this.

Who supports all of this? Who pays for the banners? Who organizes these huge protests?

Just was wondering because these people are supposedly so poor, but they have better banners then we do at some of our protests!

[maggrwaggr]

8. they're not poor. They have our jobs!

avoid cliches.

[diamond14]

9. these people are NOT from middle east countries....and in addition

these countries have upper classes, middle classes and VERY very poor classes, just like in America....your comments reflect an ignorance of both geography and demographics...and certainly STINK...whew....

[Veggie Meathead]

19. Those of us at DU who speak about the ignorance of the

freepers with respect to other cultures should also recognize the same disease here.India is certainly not a Middle Eastern country.
India's middle class is probably larger than the whole US population.
These people are very well educated in some of India's many best
educational institutions.They speak English very well because of the British rule over India for nearly three centuries.This is why you see posters that are a cut above our own.Of course, India's population is poor in the main but even this is changing because of a revolution in rising expectations, as Amy Waldman of the NYT has reported extensively.

One thing I cannot emphasize often enough is that in India's population of over one billion people, the Muslims form a significant minority (around 100 million people).This population if stood alone would make India one of the largest Muslim nations.But this population is dwarfed by the Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Christians who form nearly one billion people.

We should also recognize two things that are unique to India. It does not have a state religion like Israel or Saudi Arabia or Pakistan.
This why India's President is a Muslim and its PM is a Sikh.The leader of the majority Party (Congress) is an Italian born woman,Sonia Gandhi, who I believe is a catholic. The second thing to remember about India is that it is a democracy and has been since its independence from Britain in 1947.

Even though India's Muslims are agitated by the attacks on the holy cities of Karbala and Najaf, their fear of terrorism emanating from the Arab countries makes them similar in their viewpoint to other Indian citizens.The very bad treatment meted out to Indian Muslims who go to work in the Arab countries has made Indian Muslims aware of their vulnerabilities in Arab countries even though they share the same religion.

[Dropkick]

11. Looks more anti-war to me...

...but I love how the captioning changes how one looks at it!

I don't see how the words "Torture and humiliation of civilians is barbaric and shameful" could be construed as anti-american. Anti-war, yes, anti-american, no.

[Doctor_J]

12. A focus group

isn't that what he called us before the invasion?

[Deja Q]

13. This is clearly bad news for America...

How much worse will it get? When do people stop shouting words, having noticed those in power simply don't care about anything except their own orgasms?

Protesters around the world, from even before * launched his 'war', did this - with numbers increasing as the 'war' grew worse.

Now why don't these people protest the Americans by trashing the corporate institutions America has put in to their countries? Their placards with big letters glued to them won't do a shit amount of difference. Actually, if they did that, they'd open up a can of worms but given corporate america's presence in India, you can bet America would notice... thinking of what * might do is too ghastly to contemplate, however...

Those in power aren't going to stop doing what they're doing. Big banners didn't work before, they sure as halliburton won't work now. They think what they're doing is right. :eyes: x(

Okay, Chicken Little mode off.

[Veggie Meathead]

14. I have to disagree with some of the posts here concerning India.

Over the past twenty years, India has been attacked by Muslim terrorists, including at its parliament in New Delhi.These terrorists have been drawn not just from Pakistan but from many Arab countries as
well.These attacks have the same basic rationale as the attacks on Israel.Both India and Israel are infidel countries which have a
considerable Muslim populations.In the case of India they are subject to the same civilian laws as the rest of the population.The Muslims demand that they have a separate legal system based on the Koranic Sharia laws.This is expressly forbidden by the Constitution of India which strongly stands for separation of Church and State.

The outgoing PM of India, Mr.Vajpayee, was defeated precisely because he was seen to favor a resurgence of Hindu nationalism.Mr.Vajpayee was a strong supporter of President Bush's anti-terror initiatives
and so is his successor, Mr.Singh, who is a sikh.So long as the majority of Indians feel that they will bear the brunt of Muslim outrages against them, their support for President Bush's policies will remain strong.Their alliance with Israel will also be strengthened.

For those in this blog who think that Mr.Bush will do something rash against India need to look at the map and see both the size of the country, its population (well over a billion people) and its military resources.For the foreseeable future, India will remain strongly pro-U.S. and pro Bush.Anyone who thinks otherwise is dreaming.

[kentuck]

15. As Bob Dole would say....

Just look at the news....if you need any more proof that we are fighting a war on terrorism....Duh....

[AnnitaR]

17. What a difference 4 years makes!

This is so fucking depressing! I honestly have trouble wrapping my mind around how much damage that SOB has done to our country. I will take decades to repair even a fraction of the damage he has done.

I remember the days when you'd see Clinton on a trip abroad and there were unbelievably huge crowds waiting hours just to get a glimpse of him! I can't imagine how incredibly sad this all must make him as well.

I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said "Vote Kerry to Save America"... that's how I feel about this election.