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| Fifth Column |
| Sen. Murray’s Seattle Infantry Division : " We will shut down Seattle" |
| 2002-12-31 |
| SHUT DOWN THE TOWN by Amy Jenniges On December 19, when U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell announced that Iraq was in "material breach" of its weapons disclosure requirements, he officially put the U.S. on the path to war. International observers predict President Bush could launch his war with Iraq on or soon after January 27, the date U.N. weapons inspectors file their progress report on weapons in Iraq. In Seattle, antiwar activists are getting ready for the day the war starts. Several antiwar coalitions have put together a joint "Emergency Response" plan aimed at drawing attention to antiwar sentiment in Seattle. The plan kicks in as soon as Bush declares war, begins bombing, or deploys troops. On the day any one of these three things happens (or all three), activists plan to gather at the Federal Building at Second Avenue and Marion Street at 5:00 p.m., and then march to Westlake Center for a rally at 7:00 p.m. A weeklong vigil in front of the Federal Building will also commence that night. The following day, students from high schools and colleges are planning to walk out of their classes at noon and join other protesters downtown for another rally at Westlake Center. Activists predict that tens of thousands of people will take to Seattle's streets, bringing the center of the city to a standstill. They predict that the number of people in the streets will easily eclipse the thousands that turned out for an antiwar march on October 6, a time when war seemed less imminent than it does today. Another reason antiwar activists expect huge numbers of people to take to the streets is that a majority of Seattle residents are against a war. According to a Seattle Post-Intelligencer survey published on December 24, 52 percent of Seattle residents oppose using military force against Iraq. "I think there's going to be a huge, spontaneous anger that erupts," says Greg Deiter, a member of the Seattle Central Community College Student Anti-War Coalition on Capitol Hill. That's what happened in January 1991, when over 10,000 people marched in Seattle against the first Gulf War. (It's worth noting that despite the huge demonstrations in Seattle--and in other cities--in 1991, we still made war on Iraq. We may have left Saddam in power, but there was a war, and we won easily.) Seattle residents are more opposed to war than most other Americans--especially compared to other residents of Washington State. Over in Eastern Washington, 61 percent are in favor of war. Nationally, 59 percent of Americans, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, think the U.S. should take military action to remove Saddam Hussein. (The pro-war poll numbers are strongest when the United States is backed by the U.N., and the numbers get weaker when Americans are asked about sending ground troops into Iraq.) For locals who want to get involved in the antiwar effort, Seattle does not lack for groups to join. The numerous umbrella organizations that have been taking the lead--planning everything from marches to sit-ins at the Federal Building, from neighborhood vigils to citywide potluck dinners--are actively recruiting volunteers. But while it's easy to find groups to link up with, no single leader has emerged as a spokesperson for the antiwar movement in Seattle. Most of the groups in Seattle meet regularly, and agree on things by consensus, making them essentially leaderless. It's reminiscent of the anti-WTO movement, where groups met for weeks before the November 30, 1999, ministerial meeting in order to plan direct actions. In fact, many of the WTO activists--along with other people with activism experience, either from the Vietnam era or the first Gulf War--lend their advice and are loosely leading the antiwar activists. But overall, the movement has truly been carried by the masses of people who show up. Sound Nonviolent Opponents of War, or SNOW, is the largest of Seattle's antiwar coalitions. Born at the North Seattle headquarters of Western Washington Fellowship of Reconciliation, SNOW came together in September when its first 60 members met to agree on a mission of nonviolence. The group now counts several hundred individual members and 43 member organizations, with more joining every week. Everything from religious organizations like the Church Council of Greater Seattle to social-justice groups like Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility have signed up. SNOW's first newsworthy demonstration was the group's September 25 sit-ins at the offices of Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell in the Federal Building downtown. Timed with the Senate vote on a resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq, over a dozen activists occupied the senators' offices, demanding that Murray and Cantwell vote against the resolution. (Murray eventually voted against the resolution, Cantwell voted for it.) Twelve SNOW protesters were ultimately arrested and charged with misdemeanors for not leaving the building when it closed that night. SNOW went on to host a December 8 rally at the Central District's Garfield High School with the goal of organizing smaller neighborhood groups. After the rally, antiwar activists in neighborhoods from Lake City in the northern tip of Seattle to West Seattle on the other end began staging ongoing small-scale, street-level protests to make local antiwar sentiment more visible. Every Saturday since December 14, residents from North Seattle to Bellingham have posted themselves on I-5 overpasses to wave antiwar signs at drivers below. In mid-December in West Seattle, 35 neighborhood activists gathered at the busy intersection of California Avenue SW and Alaska Street. Toting signs decrying a war in Iraq (like the red, white, and blue, locally designed "No Iraq War" sign that's hanging in windows all over town), the group marched around the intersection whenever the light changed, prompting many drivers to honk and wave. Vic Opperman created the Ballard Activists group with Tere Carranza before SNOW launched its neighborhood effort, but they quickly hooked up with SNOW to take advantage of its organizing resources. "We wanted to see the faces of our neighbors who were equally concerned," Opperman says. "There are many passionate, interesting, and articulate people who have joined us." Every Wednesday night, the group meets in front of the Tully's on Market Street at 5:00 p.m. for an hour-long vigil. Can you imagine the shame these people will feel when people in Iraq are celebrating the arrival of the 101st, liberating them from the horrors of tyranny. All while these wet-bottomed pooly educated malcontents ruin a once fine city. |
| Posted by:Frank Martin |
| #4 Uh, shouldn't they already be in the streets? "The plan kicks in as soon as Bush declares war, begins bombing, or deploys troops" Hasn't President Bush has been bombing Iraq since his first week in office? |
| Posted by: Annoying Old Guy 2003-01-01 08:41:35 |
| #3 If SNOW is the largest anti-war coalition that they have, it's a pretty pathetic showing. After all that organization and recruiting, they count only "several hundred members" (ie: around 300 who agreed to join), got only "over a dozen" (ie: 13) to show up at the Fed Building and...WooHoo!...35 to show up at an overpass. Jeesh - with that much effort, even I could get 1000X that turn out to support the war. And I'm no organizer. |
| Posted by: Becky 2003-01-01 07:04:27 |
| #2 The best they'll get out of me is an entry in Leftists and Loons. They seem to meet the qualifications for both... |
| Posted by: Fred 2002-12-31 22:03:37 |
| #1 Fred, Does SNOW represent an organization that qualifies as an entry in "thugburg"? Seeing as how 15 Iraqi agents and one Syrian have been arrested in the seattle area since 9/11? |
| Posted by: Frank martin 2002-12-31 21:15:52 |