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