With the initial attack on Iraq beginning Wednesday evening, anti-war protesters began to mobilize immediately in the United States. Throughout many cities and towns, protesters sought a variety of ways to voice their displeasure with the recent military action and, more generally, with certain aspects of United States overseas policies, particularly in the Middle East. In Chicago, a city not recently known for its activism, a crowd of close to 10,000 coalesced on Michigan Avenue and proceeded to block Lake Shore Drive, effectively bringing rush-hour traffic to a standstill. In San Francisco, protesters had a novel approach, often moving in small groups throughout the city to various key intersections, as opposed to moving along in a massive and more predictable mass of people. While many students were away enjoying spring break, students and other members of the MIT community initiated a rally with over 600 participants, many carrying signs declaring, "Nobody likes a bully"! and "MIT Nerds for Peace."

The first link leads to a detailed news article about the protests in Chicago from the Chicago Sun-Times. The second link will take visitors to a news article about the unusual and novel tactics used by protesters in San Francisco from the online edition of the San Francisco Chronicle. The third link leads to a news article from today's Washington Post about the protests in the nation's capitol. The fourth link leads to a recent news article from the Oregonian about the more dramatic protests that took place in Portland on Thursday. The fifth link leads to a press release from the MIT news office about the on-campus rally, including quotes from those present and a short video clip of the gathering. The final two links lead to important works that guided the civil disobedience deployed by many protesters, Henry David Thoreau's famous essay, "Civil Disobedience" (also available in Spanish) and the autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi.