Whether groups protesting military action in Iraq will succeed
in stopping the war cannot be predicted. What is clear is that they
do not plan to stop protesting. “As long as you continue this
war there will not be business as usual on the streets of
America,” said Ron Kovic at Thursday’s Westwood
protest. A Vietnam veteran and longtime anti-war activist,
Kovic’s autobiography was the subject of the film “Born
on the Fourth of July.” Mass demonstrations were held in
cities across the United States on Thursday, the day after the
United States launched war against Iraq, firing missiles aimed for
Saddam Hussein himself before beginning the ground invasion. The
Westwood rallies were organized by the International ANSWER
Coalition, a left-leaning umbrella group behind several anti-war
protests. President Bush has said war is needed to remove Iraqi
dictator Saddam Hussein from power and to eliminate weapons of mass
destruction stockpiled by Iraqi forces. Protestors have
consistently disputed the administration at every turn ““ many
have been especially critical of the president’s decision to
wage war without the United Nations’ approval. But the most
common objection to the use of force is the inherent violence of
war. “It’s going to kill children and it’s also
going to kill and injure U.S. veterans,” said Paul Ahuja, a
Venice resident who works for an environmental nonprofit firm. A
soldier in the U.S. Army infantry from 1983-1988, Ahuja is a member
of the ANSWER Coalition’s veteran’s contingent. Many
protestors have adapted Bush’s demands for “regime
change” in Iraq to their remarks by calling for the
president’s removal from office. “We have our own plan
of “˜regime change.’ We have our own notion what
“˜shock and awe’ are about,” said James Lafferty,
executive director of the Los Angeles chapter of the National
Lawyer’s Guild. The phrase “shock and awe” has
been used by the administration to refer to a potential massive
assault on Iraq. Thursday was the second night in a row that
anti-war protestors engaged in civil disobedience in Westwood by
blocking traffic at the intersection of Wilshire Blvd. and Veteran
Ave., after assembling at the Federal Building. Protestors sitting
in the middle of Wilshire said they were willing to be arrested for
their actions. “I’m standing up for what I believe
in,” said Anna Shey, a first-year student at the American
Academy of Dramatic Arts in Hollywood. She added she did not agree
with the actions of some protestors who were verbally insulting the
hundreds of law enforcement officers on the scene. “I
don’t like them disrespecting the police officers.
They’re doing their job just like we’re doing
ours,” she said. Some demonstrators were arrested in this
week’s Los Angeles protests during tense standoffs with
police in riot gear. Over two days 42 individuals were taken into
custody. Rallies in other cities were even more intense. Across the
country, police arrested close to 2,000 demonstrators. The most
hectic demonstrations Thursday were in San Francisco, where
thousands flooded downtown streets and blocked exits on the San
Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Violent incidents were reported in
which protestors broke windows, fought with police, and threw rocks
at trains. One thousand, three hundred protestors had been arrested
by Thursday evening. “We went from legal protests to what I
would call absolute anarchy,” said San Francisco Assistant
Police Chief Alex Fagan Sr. Protestors Thursday also blocked
motorists in Chicago, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia.
Wednesday’s Westwood rally began at noon, just hours before
the United States launched its first missile against Baghdad.
Organizers estimated 1,000 attended, while police placed the number
at 500. Demonstrators marched from the Federal Building to the U.S.
Army Reserve Center at the intersection of Wilshire and Federal
Avenue before returning to the Federal Building before staging a
“die in” ““ lying in the street to simulate people
killed by U.S. forces in Iraq. UCLA law professor Frances Olsen, a
civil disobedience expert, bypassed a police roadblock to Sen.
Dianne Feinstein’s office on Santa Monica Boulevard, only to
find the building was locked. Olsen said that to her knowledge, it
is illegal for a public official’s office building to be
locked. On Thursday about a dozen UCLA students met in Meyerhoff
Park at 4:00 p.m. before meeting hundreds of protestors at the
Federal Building. “I finished my finals, I wanted to put my
energy into this,” said Christian Leon, a third-year
molecular, cell, and developmental biology student. Also joining
the protest was Mark Johnson, a veteran of both the 1991 Gulf War
and the 1989 invasion of Panama. Johnson said his wartime
experience was the major reason he opposes strikes against Iraq.
“Really seeing what combat is, up close and personal,
there’s better ways to doing things other than murder,”
Johnson said. The crowd Thursday was overwhelmingly anti-war, but a
few came to show their support for military action. First-year
political science student Jon English said he agrees with the
president’s assessment of the danger posed by Iraq. “I
feel that Saddam Hussein poses a threat and he kills his own
people,” he said. Protestors faced off law enforcement
officers from both the Los Angeles Police Department and Los
Angeles Sheriff’s Department when a group of demonstrators
blocked traffic for the second night in a row. Police initially
used their batons to force demonstrators blocking traffic off the
street. After diverting traffic, police blocked both Wilshire Blvd.
and Veteran Blvd., and allowed the chanting protestors to hold
their positions in the road, though police constantly kept close to
the chanting protestors. Though Los Angeles and other cities are on
the watch for terrorist activity, police said the high numbers of
officers present at rallies does not detract from efforts to
prevent domestic attacks. Because there are special response units
all over Los Angeles County dedicated to major emergencies,
“the effect is minimized,” said L.A. Sheriff Deputy
Richard Westin. The Wednesday and Thursday rallies were part of a
series of demonstrations planned in Los Angeles. To protest the
media’s coverage of the war, a march on CNN’s Hollywood
offices is scheduled for Saturday, and more media protest is
planned for Sunday as well. There are “numerous actions to
shut down the Oscars,” Ahuja said. With reports from Jonathan
Young and Kelly Rayburn, Daily Bruin Senior Staff, and Daily Bruin
Wire Services.