Hundreds of citizens protest Iraq war

WASHINGTON: While President George W Bush was rallying legislators to a war against Iraq if Saddam Hussein does not disarm, hundreds rallied outside Washington''s Capitol Hill in biting cold, protesting against a possible war and shouting ''Drop Bush, Not Bombs.''
As Bush''s speech was aired live on a huge video screen, it was muted and instead of heeding to the President, the protesters listened to the anti-war speeches.
The near-freezing level temperature could not deter the protestors, who were also seen jiving to hip-hop music.
Another group of anti-war activists held signs and candles along Pennsylvania Avenue.
Opposition Democratic Party is also sending Bush the same message. In the Democratic response to Bush''s State of the Union address to Congress, Governor of Washington State Gary Locke agreed that Saddam Husein "is a ruthless tyrant, and he must give up his weapons of mass destruction", but wanted Bush to work with Congress and the United Nations.
"We must convince the world that Saddam Hussein is not America''s problem alone -- he is the world''s problem."
He said the US administration''s policies will produce massive deficits of over a trillion dolars over the next decade.
Meanwhile, latest opinion polls show that three-fourths of the people polled are for a war only if it is authorised by the UN Security Council. Only a minority is for a war to be fought by the US and Bush''s "coalition of the willing."