• Millions protest pursuit of war
• Manhattan rally draws local activists
• Alert revives fallout shelters

Millions protest pursuit of war

Overseas crowds blast U.S. stance

The protests in Europe included some of the largest anti-war events in decades, authorities said. And the biggest marches took place in nations that are strong U.S. allies and whose governments support President Bush's confrontation with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

The sea of marchers was another sign that the Iraq crisis has not only embittered U.S. relations with Europe but driven a wedge between many Europeans and their leaders.

At least 1 million people turned out in Britain, which has dispatched about 45,000 troops to join U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf. Close to 1 million marched in Italy, and at least 2 million filled the streets in Spain, both countries where overwhelming anti-war sentiment clashes with hawkish official policies.

Big protests also took place in two capitals leading the opposition to war at the United Nations: Paris and Berlin. Despite rain, wind and near-freezing temperatures, German police said a gathering of about 500,000 people in Berlin was the largest rally since World War II.

Cross-section crowd
In addition to the students, Muslim activists and union members who are ubiquitous at leftist events, the European marches attracted an atypical cross-section of participants. Some German protesters waved signs in English, wrapped themselves in U.S. flags and lamented the trans-Atlantic rancor of recent days.

"I don't demonstrate against the U.S.A.," said Soeren Juergens, 58, a ship engineer from Hamburg, Germany, who lived in Oakland, Calif., for several years. "I have friends in the U.S.A. But Mr. Bush is isolating the U.S.A from Europe, not vice versa. Don't get me wrong: I don't support a dictatorship like Saddam's regime, but to just drop a bomb on it is like opening a Pandora's box. This is pure imperialism, even for such an old and conservative guy like me."

In contrast, the tone was warlike in the Arab world. About 200,000 Syrians chanted anti-American and anti-Israeli slogans in their capital, Damascus. Demonstrations were smaller in U.S.-aligned countries whose security services keep a tight leash on dissent, but a rally in Jordan indicated that the Iraqi dictator's predicament has made him something of a hero in the Arab world. About 3,000 protesters in Amman, the Jordanian capital, held aloft portraits of Saddam and accused other Arab leaders of staying silent in the face of U.S. aggression. The vast majority of Jordanians oppose a war, but the government quietly supports American military action while encouraging a peaceful solution.

The growing international anti-war movement also made its mark in Asia, Africa, Latin America, New Zealand and Australia, with turnouts ranging from the hundreds to the tens of thousands.

But for Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, partners struggling to build an international coalition for an invasion of Iraq, the grimmest spectacle had to be the public mobilization in Britain. The outpouring made Blair look more isolated than ever in his self-appointed role as a mediator coaxing reluctant allies to craft an agreement in the U.N. Security Council.

Leslie Druce, 70, marched in London carrying a placard that proclaimed "Bush and Blair . . . Liars and Bullies."

"They treat us like we have no power of thought," said Druce. "Who are they kidding? Do they really feel threatened by the Iraqis? The U.S. could be such a power for good in the world, but Bush has chosen to be the bully boy instead. It really bothers me that Bush has used Blair as a veil of decency through all of this."

Many protesters were members of Blair's Labor Party who have broken with their leader over the war.

"We voted for Blair, but on this he's totally wrong. It's immoral," said Peter Burton, who made the 237-mile trip to London from his Exeter home along with his wife, Rita. "He has totally misjudged how dangerous this is to the Middle East and how destabilizing this has been to the United Nations. And we believe in the United Nations."

Organizers claimed that more than 1 million people marched in London. The official police count of about 750,000 still made the demonstration the largest in the city's history. The usual array of veteran protesters was bolstered by an eclectic mix of activists, from families with children to representatives of the "sex workers" lobby.

Playwright Harold Pinter drew cheers when he characterized the United States as "a country run by a bunch of criminal lunatics with Tony Blair as a hired Christian thug."

Bush and Blair were not the only leaders who took a beating in the streets Saturday. Italians marching in Rome heaped abuse on Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for his alliance with Bush. And the decision by the state television network not to broadcast live coverage of the protests in Italy revived accusations that Berlusconi, a billionaire media magnate, exerts too much control over private and public media. Some journalists responded by wearing gags to symbolize their disapproval.

In Spain, presidential aspirants hoping to oust Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar's center-right party took part in a march.

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Manhattan rally draws local activists

Compitello, who along with hundreds of Capital Region residents joined Saturday's protest on the East Side of Manhattan against Iraq military action, said the sheer power of so many voices roused her to action.

"I had kind of avoided all the peace protests until now. I never really felt it was a productive way to show your opposition to war," said Compitello. "But when I heard that it was going to be such a large thing, a global thing, it seemed pretty amazing to me that so many people could organize themselves to a good cause."

Organizers of the New York rally estimated the crowd at anywhere from 375,000 to 500,000 people - surpassing their hopes of 100,000 people. NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly said about 100,000 people were in the crowd, which stretched 20 blocks deep and spanned three avenues.

Fifty arrests were made and two people were hospitalized during the rally - one with an epileptic seizure and another who had diabetes, Kelly said. Eight officers also were injured, including a mounted officer who was pulled off his horse and beaten, Kelly said.

Compitello and other Capital Region residents said the frigid cold did little to dampen the energy of the crowd. Some locals complained that police barriers prevented them from reaching the main body of the rally, where celebrity peace activists gave speeches and led the crowd in songs and anti-war chants.

Closer to home, anti-war activism is growing. A regular Saturday rally in Saratoga Springs was joined this weekend by the first rally in the Glove Cities supported by the Johnstown Council of Churches. About 75 people took part in the event held on Johnstown's Main Street, organizers said.

Peacemakers of Schoharie County formed in early winter and sent a busload to New York City.

And during the holidays, a group of protesters gained attention when they were kicked out of Crossgates Mall in Guilderland and returned for a permitted rally on the road surrounding the mall weeks later.

In Manhattan on Saturday, the rally kicked off with singer Richie Havens performing "Freedom," just as he did 34 years earlier at Max Yasgur's farm for the Woodstock Festival. The protest boasted additional star power from speakers Susan Sarandon, Harry Belafonte, Pete Seeger and others.

"Peace! Peace! Peace!" Archbishop Desmond Tutu told The Associated Press as he walked from a church service to a meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Tutu then joined the anti-war rally several blocks north of the world body.

"Let America listen to the rest of the world - and the rest of the world is saying, `Give the inspectors time,' " said Tutu, 71, a veteran of the peace movement.

The protesters mingled with veterans like Havens and Tutu alongside a new generation of demonstrators. Tutu roused the overflow crowd by asking, "Do you want war?"

"No!" it roared in unison.

"Just because you have the biggest gun does not mean you must use it," said Martin Luther King III, speaking in front of an enormous banner reading "The World Says No To War."

The rally was held under tight security, as New York law enforcement remained on high alert after recent warnings of a possible terrorist attack. Undercover officers carried tiny radiation detectors while sharpshooters worked from rooftops. Bomb-sniffing dogs were out in force, and hundreds of police officers patrolled the area around the United Nations.

The crowd stretched for 20 blocks along First Avenue, where the demonstrators were permitted to gather after the city - citing security issues - refused to allow a march past the United Nations.

Many protesters ended up on Second and Third avenues, complaining that police kept them from crossing barriers to First Avenue. Police, in riot gear and on horseback, arrested at least a dozen people on Second Avenue while protesters screamed, "Our Streets!" A court order had prohibited protesters from marching in the streets.

Veteran protesters Rosa Gabe of Albany and Joe Seeman of Ballston Spa said they were disturbed by the heavy police presence and the barriers keeping them from reaching First Avenue.

"They had Mace ready, pepper guns, rubber bullets," said Gabe. "It was social intimidation to show that we didn't mean anything, we're nobody."

But while Gabe and Seeman said they saw people being shoved by police on the avenues behind the main rally, they said it was clear the police were acting on strict orders to maintain order.

"We were treated like cattle and this is the first time I can't blame the police," said Gabe. "They were under orders, they didn't want to do it. It was clear they were under orders to exert brute force."

Wandering in the main march along First Avenue, Compitello said she was mostly unaffected by the tactics described by Gabe and Seeman, and enjoyed the atmosphere of the rally.

"It was really cool, everybody doing their own thing, playing music, chatting. No one seemed to be cold at all," Compitello said. "I was freezing - my toes were falling off. But everyone else seemed to be chipper and happy."

Anti-war rallies had been planned in about 150 U.S. cities, from Yakima, Wash., to Augusta, Maine, as well as in major cities including Chicago, Philadelphia, Miami and Seattle.

"We need to leave Iraq alone," said Detroit rally organizer Kris Hamel of the Michigan Emergency Committee Against the War on Iraq.

Contact Mary Martialay at 395-3113 or marym@dailygazette.com.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Alert revives fallout shelters

Americans take fresh look at attack planning

With the nation's terror alert flashing orange, Americans are taking a fresh look at what the government says they need to do to be prepared for a terrorist attack.

Under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's color-based system, orange is the second-highest level of alert. At orange alert, members of the public are advised to review their preparedness measures, avoid high-profile or symbolic locations and exercise caution while traveling.

The alert system begins with green (low risk) and graduates to blue (general risk), yellow (elevated risk), orange (high risk) and ultimately red (severe condition). The alert system has been at yellow for most of the time since it was instituted shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The advice covers a broad range of disastrous scenarios, from biological and chemical attacks to detonation of a "dirty bomb," which combines conventional explosives with nuclear material.

The possibility of any kind of a nuclear attack has brought with it the return of the notion of blast shelters and fallout shelters, things Americans thought had been rendered obsolete with the end of the Cold War.

During the Cold War of the 1950s and 1960s, thousands upon thousands of thick-walled buildings - from schools to city halls - were designated as special shelters to protect people in the event of a nuclear attack.

Now, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is recommending that people track down the old shelters, some still marked by the original but now faded yellow and black fallout shelter signs.

"It may have been years ago, but start there and learn which buildings are still in use and could be designated as shelters again," said a Federal Emergency Management Agency online guide for citizens on preparing for terrorism. The guide recommends that if no official shelters are designated, people should consider establishing their own alternative shelters near their home, office or school.

FEMA also includes suggestions for people - particularly those in the suburbs and country - who are considering building a fallout shelter at home.

Fallout shelters aren't at the top of the list for local emergency management officials, who are emphasizing instead the need for basic, common-sense preparations such as having a supply of non-perishable food and a battery-powered radio on hand.

"Fallout shelters went out about 20 years ago," said Dan Fiorillo, director of the Schenectady County Emergency Management Office.

"We were talking nuclear bombs back then," said Albert Dewey, Saratoga County emergency services director.

Local officials say the nationwide alerts have had a side benefit: greater public awareness about how to prepare for an emergency. And that, Dewey said, will make it easier to deal with the kinds of emergencies - such as power outages, floods and hazardous-materials spills - emergency officials routinely face.

"I'm very happy people are becoming aware of things they should have been doing all along," Dewey said.

Fiorillo says people should take an all-hazards approach to emergency preparedness. "When you get blizzards and other heavy storms, it's not unusual for homes to be left without power for three, four or five days. The big thing is awareness and not panic."

At the same time, the September 2001 terrorist attacks have prompted local entities to write whole new chapters dealing with terrorism into their emergency response plans.

Since 2001, for example, Saratoga County has updated its emergency-management plan to include provisions dealing with terrorism - especially bioterrorism - and establishing a pharmaceutical stockpile.

Union College officials plan to meet Monday to review the college's plan for crisis management. The possibility of war with Iraq, as well as the heightened terror alerts, prompted the meeting, said Charlie Casey, college spokesman.

And Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs is finalizing work on a comprehensive emergency management plan that for the first time includes procedures for dealing with a terrorist attack.

"It's 140 pages on how to prepare for any kind of eventuality," said Dennis Foley, director of campus safety at Skidmore. The original plan, from the 1980s, was eight or nine pages long.

While all kinds of possibilities are considered, Skidmore is focusing on emergency preparedness when it comes to students' personal safety. That means such things as encouraging students to pack water, food, clothing and batteries before they venture out on an automobile trip.

Contact Judy Patrick at 395-3184 or patrick@dailygazette.com.
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