Antiwar protesters plan to use aggressive tactics

? They have marched and chanted, hoping to use persuasion to prevent war. If that fails, though, activists are readying a more aggressive strategy of sit-ins and social disruptions, meant to restore peace in Iraq.

Protest sit-ins, especially at federal buildings, defense recruiting offices and military bases, have been mapped out for dozens of cities in the first day or two of any war, antiwar organizers say. Some also foresee widespread walkouts at schools and workplaces. A smaller number talk of blocking roads and bridges.

“Once war happens, there will be civil disobedience. It’s bringing to a higher level what people have been doing,” said coordinator Bal Pinguel at the American Friends Service Committee, an arm of the pacifist Quaker church.

The peace movement that has taken shape in the United States and around the world uses organizing technology — including the Internet and e-mail — that was not available the last time such large-scale domestic antiwar activism took place, in the Vietnam War era.

Demonstrators march down 16th Street to the White House in Washington to protest the Bush administration's war plan on Iraq. The surprisingly balmy weather Saturday drew several thousand people to the rally.

On Saturday, demonstrators gathered by the thousands in cities across the nation, an increasingly common sight as the conflict looms closer. In Washington, police and organizers estimated between 4,000 and 10,000 demonstrators turned out in conjunction with International Women’s Day; by late afternoon, 25 people were arrested on charges of crossing a police line in front of the White House.

On Wednesday, thousands of students around the United States walked out of classes. Some Americans have taken quiet, personal actions too.