9000 Protest Bush in Sweden (AP)
Protesters show Bush what they think of him
Thousands of anti-American protesters arrived in
Gothenburg yesterday as Swedish police mounted one
of the biggest security operations in their history.
By last night an estimated 9,000 demonstrators had
arrived in the second city, 300 miles southwest of
Stockholm.
Hundreds of people bared their buttocks in a protest
aimed at sending a strong message to President Bush,
and at least eight people were arrested after clashing
with riot police outside a high school. Nobody was
injured in the scuffle, which broke out after youths in
black masks hurled bottles and cobblestones at police,
marring a day of otherwise peaceful demonstrations.
The protesters included environmentalists furious at
Mr. Bush's rejection of the Kyoto accords; feminists
angered by his opposition to abortion left-wing
groups opposed to globalization; death penalty
opponents; trade unionists and a medley of groups
opposed to Mr. Bush's policies in the Middle East,
Cuba and Latin America. More than 40 groups came
together under the umbrella organization "Bush Not
Welcome".
They converged in the city center to perform what was
hailed as the first organized "mass moon" protest. At
precisely 4.08pm, amid smirks and bemused giggles
from a row of watching policemen, a small brass band
burst into sound and gave the signal for about 2,000
naked buttocks to be pointed in the direction of
President Bush's hotel
Male, female, hairy, spotty, pale, tanned - the range of
bottoms displayed in the square opposite the SAS
Radisson hotel was meant to give the visiting
President a lasting and unmistakable impression of
just how poorly he is rated by ordinary Europeans.
Love Severin, a 16-year-old from Stockholm, said he
was proud to have taken part in the protest. He wore a
bright pink T -shirt emblazoned with the single word
"Lena", the name of a Swedish youth organization
campaigning on behalf of social,
environmental and feminist issues.
"I don't like his policies, but he seems so low-minded
and so determined not to have anything to do with
ordinary people that this is one of the only ways we can
show how we feel," said Henrike Wegener, 20, a
German student who showed no sign of embarrassment
as she pulled her khaki trousers down three times in as
many minutes. Her friends held a banner showing an
American flag disappearing into a bin with the message
"No More Gar-Bush"
It was President Bush's misfortune that Sweden is the
venue for this month's European Union summit, because
of all the EU members none is more opposed to what he
stands for. The 9 million people who inhabit this vast
land of lakes and forests are paragons of environmental
correctness and simply appalled by Mr. Bush's rejection
of the Kyoto accords and his new national energy policy,
which promotes production over conservation.
The biggest achievement of Mr. Bush's presidency has
been winning congressional approval of his $1.3 trillion
(£930 billion) tax cut plan, but Swedes happily pay some
of the highest taxes in Europe to finance a cradle-to-
grave welfare system. Mr. Bush presided over 152
executions in six years as governor of Texas - Sweden
abolished the death penalty in 1921.
Swedes are strong supporters of abortions rights, but one
Of Mr. Bush's first acts was to end support for
international organizations that promote abortion. They
consistently elect left-of-center governments, and
happily welcomed American draft resisters during the
Vietnam War. Sweden is not a member of Nato.
For his part Mr. Bush is doing little to win over the
Swedish, or European, public. Yesterday he met the
King and Queen of Sweden, the heads of government of
the EU's 15 member states and some business leaders,
but in keeping with the general practice of his week-long
tour he encountered not a single member of the public.
Friday. June 15. 2001