BUSH, RUMSFELD CONFRONTED IN U.S., EUROPE, ASIA

The first week of June was not a good time to be George W. Bush or
Donald Rumsfeld.

Bush was in Europe, ostensibly for 60th anniversary celebrations of D-
Day, but really to continue begging the European imperialist allies he
dissed last year to send troops to aid the embattled U.S./British
occupation of Iraq.

At least 200,000 people came out in Rome June 4 to call Bush by his
right name: War Criminal #1.

The next day, tens of thousands in Paris did the same.

And Rumsfeld? The U.S. defense secretary was in Dhaka, Bangladesh, June
5 as part of a six-day tour to pressure Asian governments to do more for
the "war on terror."

But Rumsfeld, one of the neocon architects of Bush’s preemptive war
doctrine, only managed to display his feet of clay. Thousands of
protesters filled the streets in the majority Muslim country, reportedly
cutting short his visit.

The duo must have wished they could return home to Washington June 5,
right?

Wrong.

Both the White House and Rumsfeld’s D.C. mansion were besieged by
thousands of protesters, responding to a call for emergency
demonstrations by the ANSWER—Act Now to Stop War and End Racism—
coalition.

The protests were called to press the demand to end the racist
occupations of Iraq, Haiti and Afghanistan, at a time when the Bush
administration and the U.S. ruling class are wracked with infighting
over declining support and the sorry state of the Iraq occupation.

They were all for war on Iraq last year, when none of them believed the
people could resist the Pentagon’s power. Now that the Iraqis have
proven them wrong, they’re all looking for someone else to blame.

June 5 also marked the 37th anniversary of the Israeli blitzkrieg,
backed by the United States, which led to the occupation of the Gaza
Strip and Golan Heights. So the Palestinian people’s national liberation
struggle took center stage as well.

ANSWER demonstrations were also held in San Francisco, where up to
10,000 marched, and in Los Angeles.

Bush and Rumsfeld wouldn’t have been able to sneak into Kolkata
(Calcutta), India, if they’d wanted to. Anti-war forces there answered
the call of the West Bengal State Committee of the All India Anti-
imperialist Forum to mobilize in solidarity with their ANSWER comrades
on the other side of the world.

The AIAF organized a June 5 march to the American Center in Kolkata.
"With colorful festoons and posters and raising spirited slogans
condemning these unspeakable war crimes, crimes against humanity,
justice and peace, the march started from Raja Subodh Mullick Square in
the afternoon and ended in a demonstration before the American Center.
Effigies of George Bush and Ariel Sharon were burnt at the rally," the
group reported.