War Protest : Peace: Anti-war sentiment has been building. On the eve of the pullout deadline, San Diego saw its largest demonstration in recent history.

On the eve of the deadline for Iraq to pull out of Kuwait, thousands of people protested the U.S. military buildup in the Middle East on Monday night, gathering in front of the Federal Building downtown for the largest anti-war demonstration in recent San Diego history.

They wore suit coats and neckties, T-shirts and tie-dye. Some pushed strollers. Others waved banners and lit up the darkening sky with candles and flashlights. But, from the sound of their voices and the words on their placards, it appeared that all of the about 3,500 demonstrators had the same goal: peace.

“War Is Not Kinder and Gentler,” said one of many hand-lettered signs that attempted to use President Bush’s own words to change his mind. “Broccoli YES. Oil War NO!” said another. “Read My Lips: No Blood for Oil Products,” said a third.

The protest, organized by the San Diego-based Coalition for Peace in the Middle East, outnumbered earlier rallies and vigils by a factor of at least five, and coalition spokesman Rick Nadeau said he was pleased with the turnout.

“We are concerned that President Bush is misleading the American people, underestimating the social, environmental and economic costs of what we think will be a very devastating war in the Middle East,” he said in an interview before the rally.

“The fact that this (protest) is happening in such a conservative city and a military city like San Diego is to us an indication of widespread opposition to the policy throughout this nation.”

That opposition did not go unchallenged.

As the anti-war crowd outgrew its space and spilled onto Front Street, a vocal group of about 50 veterans, servicemen and other supporters of the U.S. presence in the gulf gathered across the street.

Between chants of “USA! USA!” and “Go, Bush, Go!” many accused the anti-war protesters of sending a demoralizing message to the troops.

Greg Bruce, a San Diego parking attendant, stood on the curb holding a sign that said, “Nuke ‘Em Till They Glow!”

“I’m a registered Democrat, and I voted for Dukakis, but on this issue I agree with Mr. Bush,” he said, making the now-familiar comparison between Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and Adolf Hitler. “A lot of Arab countries think the U.S. is weak and impotent. I think it should be demonstrated that we’re not.”

Terry Swartz, a 19-year-old sophomore at UC San Diego, stood nearby with a sign that said: “Apathy Is No Solution. ACT NOW.” When his fellow counter-protesters shouted threats and obscenities, he shouted at them to shape up.

“I’m not here to start a riot,” he said. “I’m here to say if we don’t stop him now, we’re going to face a lot greater danger down the road.”

Vietnam War-era musician Joe McDonald, the lead singer of the rock group Country Joe and the Fish, soon took the stage to perform his most famous anti-war songs, including the “I Feel Like I’m Fixing to Die Rag” and “1-2-3 . . . What Are We Fighting For?”

As he did so, the counter-protesters across the street launched into a round of “God Bless America.” When the anti-war crowd yelled, “Hell, no! We won’t go!” the tiny group across the street responded, “Hell, no! We don’t want you!”

“My flag’s bigger than yours, scumbag,” one anti-war protester who carried an American flag responded to the near-constant taunting.

But, thanks to the San Diego police and to a cadre of orange-clad crowd “controllers” supplied by the coalition, the insults never erupted into violence, police said.

Protest organizers stressed that the rally was intended to support the troops who are risking their lives in the gulf.

“The troops don’t make the policy,” Nadeau said. “Our government makes the policy, and that’s who we’re going to take our frustrations out on.”

At a table on the edge of the crowd, yellow legal pads were available for those who wished to write President Bush a letter. One man held up a sample letter for people to copy that urged the continued use of economic sanctions instead of force. Midway through the rally, about 500 people had deposited letters in a box to be mailed.

“Send Bush, Send Quayle, Send Neil (Bush) when he gets out of jail!” the protesters chanted as they marched along a predetermined route around downtown, including a stretch of Broadway in front of Horton Plaza. Many signs pointed to what protesters called the inconsistencies in the Bush Administration’s responses to aggression around the world.

“Free Kuwait?” one placard asked, “Why Not South Africa?”

Some protesters used theater to make their point. One wore a huge papier-mache skull on his head. Twenty-year-old Greg Alex Mitkevich, a San Diego performance artist, had attached a gasoline can to his ankle with a chain to illustrate Americans’ dependence on oil.

“We’re all chained to gas so we need to fight wars to keep it cheap,” he said.

Dr. Irene J. Lawrence, a retired University of San Diego sociology professor, had a quote from the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. written on the sign hanging around her neck: “War Is Obsolete.” She called it “incongruous” that today’s deadline falls on what would have been King’s 62nd birthday.

“He said peace could only come through peaceful means. If we go to war, that means we’ll be spending excessively again on the military,” she said. “All the money we need for child care, education and social services will be lost in the sands of Saudi Arabia.”

Britt Jones, an electronics technician at General Dynamics, was among many San Diegans who brought their children to the rally--his 10-year-old son Kevin stood by his side.

“My wife was talking to him the other day, and he said he never wants to go to war,” the elder Jones said. “I’m here because I don’t want him to go--I don’t want anybody to go. And I’m afraid if any fighting starts it’s going to be a lot worse than anybody thinks.”

Kevin looked around, visibly bewildered by his first anti-war rally.

“Hey, Dad?” he asked. “What are sanctions?”

Sandra Wara de Baca, a Chula Vista music student, had six of her 10 children in tow.

“Out of all the CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies, not one has a child in the Middle East,” she charged. “It’s Mexicans like myself and black people who are going to fight this war.”