Crisis in Middle East Sparks Rush-Hour Protest

About 40 people protesting the U.S. deployment to the Middle East rallied at a busy downtown intersection Thursday afternoon, chastising what what they called the sole reason for American forces in Saudi Arabia: Oil.

“George Bush has created a drift towards war that will be tough to pull back from,” said Rick Nadeau, one of the organizers.

“When American boys start coming home in body bags, then (Americans) will start questioning it,” he said.

Nadeau, former director of Greenpeace in San Diego and leader of an Aug. 24 Mideast rally outside the Federal Building that drew more than 200, said Thursday’s protest was the first show by a new San Diego umbrella group formed to oppose U.S. intervention in the Middle East.

The Coalition for Peace in the Middle East, with members from 20 groups--including the 1,200-member Peace Resource Center of San Diego and groups associated with the Greens, an environmental group--was formed to push for withdrawal of U.S. troops in the Mideast, Nadeau said.

During rush hour, the protesters stood on both sides of the entrance to California 163 at 11th Avenue and A Street, including a triangular median between the ramp to Interstate 5 and California 163 entrance.

Two San Diego police officers, who said they were concerned about the group’s proximity to traffic, asked the protesters to move from the median, which they did.

Nadeau said the deployment was “an ideal issue” to bring two causes--environmental and peace activism--together.

“If we stay addicted to oil, we are going to have to go to war to get it,” he said.