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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/09/17/BA192006.DTL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday, September 17, 2002 (SF Chronicle) Anti-war activists gearing up/Groups prepare for protests against military action in Iraq Kevin Fagan, Chronicle Staff Writer Scott Fleming gazed out across UC Berkeley's Sproul Plaza, and what struck him most was what he didn't see: No people with bullhorns shouting for peace, no determined fists in the air, not even a protest poster. With President Bush ratcheting up his threats to attack Iraq, Fleming expected to see strident action at the nation's most famous fount of war protests past -- not the placid vision of students milling around tables offering information on meditation, dance concerts and business associations. "There hasn't been anything more than the usual for a while," said Fleming, who has played piano in the square every week for 22 years. "Curious." If activists get their way, that will probably soon change. Peace groups say they are gearing up against the Bush administration's growing war efforts, with plans for leaflets, rallies, marches and political lobbying. They intend to be loud, and they intend to be everywhere. For now, the aim is to have successively more intense rallies from one end of the nation to the other, culminating with giant demonstrations around Oct. 7, the anniversary of the date that U.S. forces began bombing Afghanistan. But organizers are looking toward the long term -- doing everything they can to keep their country from going to war in the Middle East, and to make the government stick to diplomatic attempts to tamp down threats like Saddam Hussein. "Bush's speech to the U.N. was the line in the sand," said Medea Benjamin, founding director of Global Exchange, a national anti-war group based in San Francisco. "Since Sept. 11, people were very cautious about the way they were judging the Bush administration, but then came the call for an unprovoked war in Iraq in violation of everything from our own Constitution to the U.N. charter -- and that was it." It's not like there haven't been protests all along. Rallies last weekend drew several thousand people to Marin County and Oakland, and on the Sept. 11 anniversary Wednesday, a similar rally drew 3,000 people to Justin Herman Plaza. On Friday, more than 100 demonstrators delivered 1,000 postcards to Rep. Tom Lantos, D-San Mateo, asking him to oppose attacking Iraq, and over the weekend protests in Oakland and San Francisco drew hundreds more. But the Justin Herman rally, the most significant in months, got virtually no press notice -- far more attention has been paid over the past year to protests centered around Israeli-Palestinian violence than to U.S. military action. Organizers like Benjamin, and Danielle Babineau of Berkeley's California Peace Action, think that it is ready to expand. And they think middle America, not merely those perpetually dedicated to peace, is ready to listen. "This past year has been a national period of mourning, but now I think more people are ready," said Babineau. Her organization is preparing a concerted push in coming months to get California's congressional delegation to sign pledges opposing military intervention in solving conflicts, and they are helping plan rallies all over the Bay Area. "What matters most to the American people is being safe," she said. "And our message is exposing the fact that our safety is linked to the safety of other people around the world, not building up more arms and attacking countries." The list of groups planning demonstrations -- along with Global Exchange and Peace Action -- in the weeks leading up to Oct. 7 include the People's Nonviolent Response Coalition, War Resisters League West, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Not in Our Name and Sept. 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows. Organizers say more groups sign on every week. Nonetheless, their message will be tough to get across. A Field Poll last week showed that a majority of Californians support military action against Iraq -- though even bigger numbers say Bush should get congressional approval first. And peace protesting on the whole hasn't been easy this year -- at any time. Several anti-war headquarters, including the Peace Action office in Berkeley, have had bomb threats since last September's terror attacks, and in the past week hackers several times took down the Global Exchange Web site listing upcoming demonstrations. But Benjamin noted that even the Bush administration was having to take care in selling its message. Bush chief of staff Andrew Card said earlier this month that the Bush administration had waited until after Labor Day to push for ousting Saddam Hussein because "from a marketing point of view you don't introduce new products in August." "The Bush administration is using the grief, sorrow and fear of the American public to launch their sales campaign to sell the war," said Benjamin. "So the peace movement, as of Sept. 12, is launching our campaign to say this is one product we won't buy." Back at Sproul Plaza, where the closest thing to a peace protest was a group of Muslim students gently urging people to join a gathering to pray for tolerance, students seemed to be guarded but open to whatever message Benjamin and her fellows are ready to deliver. "My organization can't take any stances, but we'll be happy to listen to whatever anyone has to say," said sophomore Eric Anthony, Web master for the Cal Berkeley Democrats newsletter. "Personally, I think they should try weapons inspections in Iraq again, but that's just me." ___________________________ E-mail Kevin Fagan at [EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------- Copyright 2002 SF Chronicle http://www.sfgate.com __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! News - Today's headlines http://news.yahoo.com --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
