Marchers bring 'arms inspectors' to Pearl Harbor

By Will Hoover and Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Staff Writers

Five hundred anti-war protesters — complete with two dozen mock "weapons inspectors" — marched from Aloha Stadium to headquarters of the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor yesterday and demanded to examine the military's stockpile of "weapons of mass destruction" on O'ahu.

Kimo Jadrnicek from Honolulu protested with his anti-war sign at the entrance of the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet headquarters on Kamehameha Highway yesterday. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

"While this protest is partly theater, we are very serious about our opposition to the war, and about our demands," Sebastian Blanco, an organizer of the event, told the protesters before the rally started.

The march to Pearl Harbor was peaceful but noisy, with banner-waving and drum-beating protesters chanting anti-war slogans along Kamehameha Highway, one lane of which of blocked off by Honolulu Police Department motorcycle officers.

Many passing motorists honked their horns in support. Others, however, rolled down their windows to voice opposition.

"Bomb Iraq!" shouted more than one.

When the throng arrived at fleet headquarters, it was greeted by the solitary figure of Devon Generally, a 27-year-old Navy sonar technician stationed at Pearl Harbor, who had come to protest the protest. He stood in the center of the roadway carrying a sign reading "I support America."

Making it clear that he was speaking for himself and not the military, Generally stationed himself about 2 feet in front of a line of armed sentries 50 yards from the headquarters gate. The gate was further fortified with more guards and one barking German shepherd.

The marchers were told by the troops that they could go no further, and for several minutes Generally stood nose to nose with those who carried the Not in Our Name banner. Neither side budged.

"I'm here to support those who fight so we can have demonstrations like this," said Generally. "I have a right to my opinion. This is anti-Bush. This is anti-America."

The marchers shouted over and over in unison: "We're not against the soldiers — we're here against the war!"

Some war protesters on O'ahu dressed themselves as U.N. inspectors for the march from Aloha Stadium to Pacific Fleet headquarters yesterday. Other anti-war events were held in Hilo and Kona. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

The protesters chanted back at him: "Peace is patriotic!"

The standoff continued for more than 15 minutes before the marchers got around to unrolling a large proclamation and reading their demands aloud: Full disclosure from the military about its "weapons of mass destruction" at Pearl Harbor.

Protest "inspectors" were allowed to approach the gate and hand their petition to Cmdr. Jim Stone, the naval station's executive officer, who said: "All right, you've presented your case."

Otherwise, the Navy had little to say about the episode other than a brief statement from Lt. Cmdr. Jane Campbell.

"Today's protesters were civil and orderly, and we fully support their right to assemble and their freedom of speech," Campbell said.

Yesterday's march was half the size of the thousand-strong downtown Honolulu protest on Jan. 18, which was also coordinated by Not in Our Name Hawai'i. Rally organizer Carolyn Hadfield said she had expected a smaller turnout for yesterday's march because it was more confrontational than previous protests.

"It's not as laid-back as Ala Moana Beach Park," said Hadfield, referring to the starting point of the previous march, which was one of the largest protest marches ever in Hawai'i. "This is going to take more strength on the part of people."

Bill Perry, 92, was among the oldest to show up and express the courage of his convictions.

"I think anything we can do to keep from having that war would be worth the march," said Perry. "They tell me it's only a half-mile march — I swim that far."

On the Big Island, about 275 demonstrators braved a cold rain blowing in from Hilo Bay to hold a protest rally at Mo'oheau Bandstand, with speakers calling President Bush a "thug" and "evil."

Several speakers mocked the idea that war with Iraq will make the United States safer, predicting it will lead to new violence and terrorism.

Demonstrators in Hilo lined Kamehameha Highway to protest war. Kevin Dayton • The Honolulu Advertiser

Bill Snorgrass, a Puna resident who was drafted during the Vietnam era, said he was astonished at how easily the Bush administration shifted the national focus from Osama bin Laden to Saddam Hussein, readying the nation for a war with Iraq.

That war will cause enormous human suffering, and "collateral damage is just something that we've grown to accept, and I can't see how anyone could find that acceptable," said Snorgrass, 55.

Chris Yuen, Hawai'i County planning director and a former member of the state Board of Land and Natural Resources, told the protesters that U.S. politicians are leading the nation into an unending cycle of violence much like that wracking Israel and the Palestinians today — strike after retaliation after strike, and so on.

"We all have a lot of reasons for being here, but I think one of the most important reasons ... is to protect and defend our own country against the leaders that we have in Washington today," Yuen said.

A second, smaller rally was held in the Kona community of Captain Cook, where the weather was better and demonstrators gathered at a roadside baseball field for music, dance and meditation and to circulate anti-war petitions.

"A rally for peace is an opportunity for the community to come together and recognize that we do live in harmony, and join together to celebrate peace as a way of being," said Tammy Rouleau, organizer of the Captain Cook rally and co-founder of a group that calls itself One Voice of Peace.

On Maui a peace rally, which will include speakers and music concert, is expected for 1 p.m. today at the Maui Community College Quad.