After months of fund-raising, Norwegian activists on Tuesday paid for United States newspaper advertisements telling President George Bush he was wrong to invade Iraq and should pull out his troops.
“We want the US to be strong and creative enough to apologise to the Iraqi people for an unjust war and to the Allies for misleading them,” said the advertisement appearing in the Washington Post on Tuesday.
“We want the US to be generous enough to compensate the innocent victims of violence, looting and trauma inflicted by torture,” the ad continued.
The Norwegian campaign began in June, started by a loosely knit group of Norwegian individuals and organisations, bound largely by an internet site that takes advantage of Norway’s two-letter internet code “no” to become part of its message: Tellhim.no.
The activists complained that the government of Nato member Norway did not object strongly enough to US policies in Iraq, even though the Nordic nation openly opposed the war in Iraq.
“When the Norwegian government doesn’t tell George Bush the Norwegian opinion on the Iraqi war, we have to tell him ourselves,” the group said in a statement.
It raised 340 000 kroner ($51 500) from thousands of donors for the advertisements. It said 80% of Norwegians opposed the war in Iraq, and that a majority wants the US to pull out.
The advertisement, signed “concerned citizens and organisations of Norway”, urged Bush to return the US to leading example of freedom and democracy because “your present policy only fosters resistance, more than ever, everywhere”.
In a March 2003 opinion poll, as the US-led invasion began, 90% of the 1 505 Norwegians polled by the Visendi market research group opposed the war. Opposition to the war has remained high ever since. — Sapa-AP
On the net:
Tellhim.no