By Laila Rahman in London
An anti-war demonstration in
a street in England.
The Iraq war has provoked mixed
feelings in Britain.
In the early stages of the war,
anti-war demonstrations were held in many parts of Britain.
Armed with pro-peace banners
and signs, many schoolchildren and anti-war demonstrators vented
their anger by sitting along the roads causing traffic jams and
shouting anti-war slogans at Downing Street where the British
Prime Minister resides as well as other public places.
The war has caused much anxiety
and paranoia among the people and in particular the tourists.
The anti-war demonstrators said
that this war is about oil. They claimed that the US energy
department recently predicted that by 2025 nearly three-quarters
of the oil used in the US would come from abroad.
A US-friendly government in
Iraq, which has the world's second biggest oil fields, would
give the US a wider choice of suppliers. Another reason for the
anti-war demonstration by the British is that the cost would be
huge such as 3- 4 billion, which is an official estimate.
That does not include the costs
of clearing up the "mess" after the war. Iraq has
hospitals, schools and other public services in need of that
cash. The anti-war rallies in Britain showed that not everyone
in the West believed that the war is the only way to resolve the
Iraq crisis.
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