Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=1/18/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=ANTI-WAR PROTESTS (L-UPDATE)

NUMBER=2-298530

BYLINE=STEPHANIE HO

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

INTERNET=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Washington and around the world to protest a possible U-S-led war against Iraq. VOA's Stephanie Ho reports the marchers invoked the memory of the late Martin Luther King -- a famous advocate for non-violent protest in his quest for racial equality in the United States.

TEXT: Dozens of buses descended on Washington Saturday from around the country. Tens of thousands of protesters -- young and old, black and white -- braved subzero temperatures to demonstrate against a possible war with Iraq.

/// "We are what democracy looks like" chanting -- fade in, in full, fade out ///

At a rally in front of the U-S Capitol, 58-year old Ruta Vaskis says she and her husband came from Alaska.

/// VASKIS ACT ///

There are protests in Fairbanks, which is where we came from, but this one is a much bigger one.

/// END ACT ///

/// OPT /// Twenty-two year old Matt Denner, from Ames, Iowa, rode all night in a bus to be at Saturday's demonstration. On his head, he held a large stuffed animal that he recovered from a second-hand store.

/// OPT DENNER ACT ///

I'm carrying a 99-cent chicken I got from Goodwill and was inspired to recycle it and challenge our nation's legislators, our leaders and to challenge community members to choose non-violence for resolving international conflicts.

/// END ACT ///

Besides students, /// END OPT /// the demonstrators included people who were die-hard peace activists and people who were not used to being so vocal.

Maine resident Jane Sees, who says she is in her 60's, says the threat of war hits close to home.

/// SEES ACT ///

It's much more immediate to fight having a war when a member of your family is involved. My son is not in the military, but he's a merchant marine, but is carrying materials to the Middle East.

/// END ACT ///

The speakers at the rally included actors and civil rights leaders. Washington Police Chief Charles Ramsey described the march that followed as peaceful.

/// RAMSEY ACT ///

People can come and they can have a demonstration and be peaceful. And that's what, really, America is all about. That's what democracy is about -- having an opportunity to voice your opinion about issues, but not do so in a violent way.

/// END ACT ///

Demonstration organizers claimed half-a-million protesters. Chief Ramsey did not give a crowd estimate. But he said he thought there were quite a bit more people than the 100-thousand who showed up for anti-war demonstrations in Washington in October.

/// OPT RAMSEY ACT ///

When they were marching in October, they had big gaps in the parade. But here, there are some gaps, but not real big gaps. So, that's a lot of people.

/// END ACT -- END OPT ///

Meanwhile, Chief Ramsey said there were extra police stationed around a counter-demonstration of about 50 people, but that there were no incidents.

A public opinion poll of more than 12-hundred Americans published Thursday by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press says 76-percent of Americans support military force against Iraq if U-N inspectors find weapons of mass destruction. But U-S public support for military action drops to only 29-percent, if no weapons are found.

Aroun the world, protests against a possible U-S-led war against Iraq also were held in dozens of countries in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

Back in the United States, similar rallies were held in other American cities. A second round of protests is planned outside the White House and elsewhere on Sunday. (SIGNED)

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