Antiwar Protesters Plan to Escalate

'Direct Action' Seen as Next Step If War Begins

If bombs start dropping, thousands of people across the country opposed to a unilateral attack on Iraq plan to commit acts of "direct action," as civil disobedience is commonly called. The day -- or days -- after war begins could see the largest coordinated displays of civil disobedience in the United States since the civil rights era. Protesters around the country plan on blockading avenues, stopping traffic and generally disrupting business as usual.

Frustrated dissenters plan sit-ins and blockades at government buildings, financial centers, congressional offices and military bases and installations. The day after war begins, dissenters in at least 50 cities are planning direct actions. In New York's Times Square, protesters are planning to stop traffic. In Detroit, protesters are planning 72 hours of nonviolent disruptions at government installations. In St. Louis, they are planning to block the entrance to a Boeing bomb-making factory. North of Santa Barbara, Calif., activists -- many of them religious leaders experienced in civil disobedience -- are strategizing to shut down Vandenberg Air Force Base. In San Francisco, perhaps the country's most organized city in terms of planned protests, a menu of events is planned -- from stopping traffic with slow-moving car and bike caravans, to shutting the stock exchange to a general strike.

There is the problem on direct actions to inconvenience government without upseting people enough to lose your supporters. That is why I would also target conservative news media, they are not supporters anyway, as a means of protesting one-sided stories. Facts should be prepared at those confrontations to oppose lies. Warm and fluffies are not the way to go, people expect anti-war protestors to be soft-hearted. Surprise them by being armed with facts and conservative arguments. Notes on their hypocrisy don't go over well.