8 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, March 21, 2003
-WAR
Global protests
dismay leaders of
U.S. ally countries
The Associated Press
The first shots of war set off global
protests on the streets and drew dis-
mayed responses from world leaders
yesterday. President Bush's main allies
stood firmly by him as U.S. flags
burned from Berlin to Bangladesh.
A world woven together by satellite
TV watched the opening salvos of the
war, and responses ranged from gaso-
line hoarding in Katmandu to cheers for
Saddam Hussein in Kashmir.
"The wrong decision has been taken.
The war has begun. It must be ended as
quickly as possible," German Chancel-
lor Gerhard Schroeder, a staunch anti-
war voice, said in a televised address.
"The threat of terrorism is a fact,"
said Polish President Aleksander Kwas-
niewski, whose country backs Bush.
"The world bears the joint responsibility
and should show solidarity in fighting
terrorism and proliferation of weapons
of mass destruction."
"Patience, patience, O Bush, tomor-
row the Muslims will dig your grave,"
demonstrators chanted in Cairo, where
police used water cannons to keep pro-
testers away from the U.S. Embassy.
Oil prices jumped yesterday - from
$25.53 a barrel to $27.35 in London -
on reports that oil wells in southern Iraq
were sabotaged and burning.
Britain and Australia, the only
nations to commit significant numbers
of troops to the U.S.-led effort, resolute-
ly stuck by Washington.
Protesters banged pots in Manila
and daubed "Bush, your empire will
eventually crumble" on walls in
Caracas. They trashed a McDonalds
restaurant in the Montparnasse dis-
trict of Paris. They stoned the U.S.
Embassy in Brussels, and threw
bricks and eggs at a local party
office of Spanish Prime Minister and
Bush ally, Jose Maria Aznar. In Sri-
nagar, capital of heavily Muslim
Kashmir, schoolboys watched TV
footage of explosions in Baghdad
and cheered when Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein appeared.
"Stupid war, mindless violence," said
a placard in a sea of 50,000 anti-war
demonstrators converging on Berlin's
Brandenburg Gate.
For a few, especially Iraqi exiles,
the start of war promised better times
for Iraq.
In Cairo, Faisal Fikri excitedly chan-
nel-surfed for images of the first explo-
sions in Baghdad.
It was "the moment I have been wait-
ing for all my life - to see the despot
gone," said Fikri, who left Iraq in 1970.
In Sydney, Australia, protesters
snarled traffic holding up signs saying
"Disarm USA too." At one point, three
Iraqi Kurds pushed to the front of the
rally, holding up pictures of a chemical
weapons attack on the Kurdish town of
Halabja in 1988.
"Saddam Hussein is not a person who
should be defended," said Robert Ashdi,
48, who fled northern Iraq for Australia
along with three other family members
in 1991. "I think people here don't
understand what they're talking about."
While few protesters or govern-
ment leaders voiced sympathy for
Saddam, people worried about ordi-
nary Iraqis and prayed for a quick
and low-casualty war.
"The thought now goes to the
children, the families, those who
run away, those who take shelter,"
said Cardinal Pio Laghi, who
recently met Bush as part of Pope
John Paul II's campaign against the
war. "I feel a sense of frustration,
fear, fright, especially thinking of
the death that's looming over those
people."
The pope dedicated his dawn Mass to
peace.
In Pakistan, people crowded around
TV sets, many of them siding with Iraq.
"We are all Muslims and should go to
Iraq for jihad. We should be ready to
sacrifice our life for our religion," said
Nadeem Ahmed, 22, who was pushing a
loaded vegetable cart.
"I'd like to see it over and done
with as quickly as possible," said
Peter Ryan, 47, sunning himself on
a London park bench. "My ideal
scenario would be to see all the
Iraqi troops just surrender."
Soldiers in the U.S. Army 3rd Battalion 15th Infantry in Kuwait face the border with Iraq yesterday. Allied forces crossed into
southern Iraq yesterday after a thundering barrage of artillery that signalled the start of ground war.
Troops don protective gear
to defend against gas attacks
Domestic
anti-govt.
protests
escalate
The Associated Press
Galvanized by the American attack
on Iraq, thousands of anti-war activists
around the country set off their own
barrage of street protests, chaining
themselves together, blocking workers
and traffic, walking out of classes, and
parading in mock chemical suits.
More than 1,500 people were arrest-
ed from San Francisco to Washington,
D.C. But the anti-war groundswell
brought out thousands of counter-
demonstrators. One in Mississippi car-
ried a sign saying, "Support the U.S. or
keep your mouth shut."
Yesterday was one of the heaviest
days of anti-government protesting in
years.
"This is no ordinary day," said Jason
Mark, a San Francisco activist. "Ameri-
ca is different today: We've just
launched an unprovoked, unjust war."
One protester died after tumbling
from the Golden Gate Bridge. Authori-
ties were investigating the death as a
possible suicide.
San Francisco had some of the
largest anti-war activity, hobbling
the morning and evening commutes.
Thousands in roving bands tem-
porarily took control of some down-
town streets and closed several exits
from the San Francisco-Oakland
Bay Bridge.
Smaller splinter groups broke win-
dows, heaved debris into streets and
occasionally scuffled with police.
Some protesters hurled rocks at trains,
briefly halting service at a station in
nearby Oakland.
"We went from what I would call
legal protests to absolute anarchy,"
Assistant Police Chief Alex Fagan
Sr. said.
Police wearing helmets and carrying
nightsticks made at least 1,025 arrests.
"We don't want to alienate people. I
hope people realize that political mur-
der merits action that inconveniences
them," said protester Quinn Miller, who
took the day off from his job for a
banking company.
CAMP NEW JERSEY, Kuwait (AP) - Hours before
opening the ground war, U.S. troops got their first real scare
yesterday when Iraqi missiles streaked across the border into
Kuwait, forcing Americans in the desert to climb into protec-
tive suits and put on gas masks.
"Gas, gas, gas!" came a muffled cry, barely audible inside
an armored vehicle of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit at
one camp.
The Marines inside slapped on masks and waited, some
sipping water through tubes connecting their masks to their
canteens. An "all clear" came, but a half-hour later another
"gas, gas, gas" warning rang across the camp.
Later in the day, as the sun set, the Marines could hear the
sustained sounds of bombs or artillery shells exploding
across the border in southern Iraq. The detonations stopped
after 30 minutes.
Elsewhere in the Kuwaiti desert, an Associated Press
reporter heard powerful explosions near Highway 8, the road
that runs from Kuwait City to the Iraqi port of Basra.
Soon after, the howitzers and rocket launchers of the
Army's 3rd Infantry Division began bombarding targets in
southern Iraq. More than 100 shells were fired in one five-
minute barrage, illuminating the big guns against the night
sky. There was no return fire from Iraqi troops.
The American military said it used Patriot missiles to
shoot down at least one Iraqi missile. No injuries were
reported from any of the missiles, and there was no immedi-
ate evidence they carried chemical or biological warheads.
The Iraqi attack came several hours after the United States
launched precision-guided bombs and more than 40 Toma-
hawk missiles in strikes it said were aimed at Saddam Hus-
sein and his top leadership.
U.S. Army troops at Camp New Jersey put on their chemi-
cal and biological protective gear in response to an alert
caused by one of the missiles, but were given the all-clear a
few minutes later.
Marines of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force near the
Iraqi border were on the highest alert level and were ordered
into bunkers three times during the morning.
The Marines dropped food trays and ran out of showers to
hastily don gas masks and protective gear. Inside one bunker,
Marines traded jokes. "Did anybody take out insurance?"
cracked one, hidden by his mask.
At another position in the desert along the Iraqi border,
the soldiers of A Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry
Regiment were eating lunch when an Iraqi missile hit the
desert. The locomotive-like roar of the missile flying
through the air followed the sound of impact because of
the distances involved.
Within a minute, a message came across the radio,
reporting that a tactical ballistic missile had landed in
the desert near U.S. troops. A few minutes later, all
troops were ordered into protective clothing for chemi-
cal and biological warfare.
The men moved swiftly but calmly, systematically
putting on their masks, then clothing. Once one soldier
was done, he would make sure another soldier had his
gear on properly.
9
Model citizen
Teens skip
schoolto plr
protest
Iraq war os
By Victoria Edwards
Daily Staff Reporter
AP PHOTO
A model sports an anti-war banner on her arm Wednesday as she shows a dress from the fall/winter collection of
designer David Dixon at Fashion Week in Toronto.
Graduate students debate legal,
f n a
-nor rfor raq1-n O 1
"One, two, three, four this is not a
legal war!" was the cry of the roughly
200 high school students who protest-
ed in front of the Ann Arbor Federal
Building yesterday.
The rally, one of many protests held
in front of the Federal Building, includ-
ed high school students from Ann
Arbor Community High School and
was joined by students from the sur-
rounding Pioneer and Plymouth high
schools.
Community senior Beatrice Nathan
said the rally was worthwhile.
"I think it (went) really well. From
Community alone, over half of the
school is out here. It's great just to be
here and show we have an opinion and
don't support war. It is important we're
not apathetic and we know what is
going on," Nathan said.
Nathan said she hopes this rally will
show other Americans there is resist-
ance to policies and the majority opin-
ion does not rest with the belief that
"dropping bombs is the only option."
"There are other opinions, besides
those of pro-war. Many young people
don't believe in this war and it is those
young people that are being expected
to carry it out. If they don't believe it, it
is not worth fighting for," Nathan said.
Evelyn Hollenshead, an organizer
for the event, also voiced anti-war sen-
timent.
"This event is to get our voice out
that everyone is not for war. Anti-war
voices get bogged down by polls. But
it is important to show that students
won't just let this happen without
mobilizing for what they care about,"
Hollenshead said.
But observing Ann Arbor resident
James Hendricks said the protest was
in vain.
"I think it is kind of hopeless, really.
It (the war) is already rolling. It's not
going to make a difference - no one's
going to listen. (Protests) have never
worked before," Hendricks said.
Hendricks said he felt the protest
was made up of a lot of students
who are not as informed as they
should be on the issues surrounding
the Iraq conflict.
Still, LSA junior Rebecca Brown,
who also watched the protest, said she
was impressed by it.
"I think it is great. It is one of the
biggest turnouts I've seen for a long
time for a protest. People say this
age group does not care about war,
but this is a true testament that they
care and are doing something about
it," Brown said.
However, there was a handful of
pro-war Pioneer students who showed
up later in the rally for a counter-
protest.
"These people can speak their minds
but so can we" anti-war protester Pio-
neer senior Sean Sullivan said.
"I support the war because there are
a lot of people being oppressed in Iraq.
We (America) should speak up for
oppressed people;' Sullivan said.
He said that in Ann Arbor, his pro-
war stance on Iraq makes him part of
the minority. But he feels this is an
asset because it forces him to be vocal
about his beliefs.
"I think the protesters are ignorant
and the only reason they are here is
because their parents told them that
Bush was dumb. I feel that they are
uninformed and are doing it for
attention and to belong to some-
thing," Pioneer sophomore Kara Sul-
livan said.
Pioneer sophomore Caitlin Kurtz
said she respects the opinions of the
anti-war protesters as long as they
respect hers.
"However, during the rally, protest-
ers openly came up to me just to
ridicule me"Kurtz said.
ELISE BERGMAN/Daily
A handful of Ann Arbor area high school students hold a counter-protest to the
rally on the Diag to display their support for war in Iraq.
By Chris Amos
and Taaha Haq
For the Daily
Students crowded into Hutchins Hall
last night to hear University students
Amer Zahr and Justin Shubow debate
the moral justifications of military inter-
vention in Iraq.
Zahr, a Law School student, argued
that the Bush administration's con-
tention that Saddam must be deposed in
order to create a democratic government
in Iraq is hypocritical. "Saddam is a des-
pot, but if we are going to attack
despots, we would have to also attack
Saudi Arabia and Israel too."
Zahr maintained that Iraq has never
directly attacked the United States or
Americans. To the contrary, Zahr said,
Saddam's government was long favored
by American foreign policy.
"Saddam was a sweetheart of Ameri-
ca. In fact, two months before the Gulf
War, he was visited by a Senate delega-
tion led by former presidential candidate
Boh Dole to rasure him of cnntinied
"Tis is a moral crisis of an exceptionally
grave character - so grave that there is no
rival since World War II.'
- Justin Shubow
Rackham student
could not be legally justified.
Zahr argued that a more effective way
to undermine Saddam's power would be
to repeal the economic sanctions which
have devastated the nation's once thriv-
ing middle class-the same middle class
that had served as a check on Saddam's
authority.
Shubow, a Rackham student, coun-
tered that many students who oppose the
war do so because of a visceral dislike
of President Bush and do not take time
to thoroughly examine the issue.
While acknowledging that Bush has
done a terrible job of justifying the war,
Shubow nonetheless maintained that
war was justified.
"This is a moral crisis of an excen-
from realizing one of his stated aims -
redrawing the map of the Middle East,
Shubow said.
He said there are three available
means of confronting Saddam - con-
tainment, deterrence and invasion. He
argued that neither containment nor
deterrence has worked during the past
12 years.
When asked his opinion of military
intervention, LSA senior Paul Gabrail,
an Iraqi American with many relatives
still living in Iraq, defended the war.
"Yes, there will be casualties among
Iraqis, but it is much better to lose peo-
ple now than to let a man stay in power
who has already killed a million and a
half ofhis own neonle."Gabrail said.
19 arrested at Fe.Building sit-in
By Elzabeth Anderson
Daily Staff Reporter
Amid rallies, protests and news of military clashes, 19
citizens protesting the war in Iraq were arrested in Ann
Arbor yesterday. The arrests occurred during a planned
sit-in in front of the Federal Building on Liberty Street.
Ann Arbor Police Department officers characterized
the protest - which began yesterday at noon - as
peaceful. "There was no violence," AAPD Lt. Mark
oAornstra 'sid "Thev were laving down and hlockina the
maximum amount of time charged is 93 days in jail,"
Hoornstra said. "They were brought here, cited and
released." The court dates for the protesters will be
announced at a later date.
Hoornstra and Department of Public Safety Sgt.
Janet Conners said there was no criminal activity at
any of the rallies or protests on campus. "We staffed
(the rally) earlier today and it was a peaceful event,"
Conners said.
Anti-War Action! member Max Sussman said that
denite the threat nf arret -itizens shnu1d continue tn