BY RYAN KELLY AND JIM ALTENBERG
OAKLAND, California - The sound of automatic weapons fire
and helicopters echoed throughout the city here, while heavily
armed Marines staged amphibious landings on the beaches of
nearby Alameda. Large navy ships, including a new radar-
evading "Stealth" cruiser, plied the waters of San Francisco
Bay. Troops in chemical suits joined those in regular
camouflage on street corners in Monterey, 100 miles south of
here.
This is "Operation Urban Warrior," a series of military exercises by the U.S. Navy in the Bay Area, which began March 15 and will last through March 21. Military officials describe Urban Warrior as training for "urban combat" to quell "civil chaos" and a "breakdown of law and order," as well as practicing "humanitarian assistance."
"Using a fictional scenario, Monterey was transformed into a city in a friendly foreign nation that had requested assistance from the United States," said an article in the March 14 Oakland Tribune. "One setup replicated a Korean village and another tested the military's ability to neutralize weapons of mass destruction."
The war games come weeks after the announcement by the Clinton administration that it plans to set up a North American command for the Pentagon, giving the U.S. military policing powers and structure inside the United States.
Six thousand sailors and Marines are taking part in Urban Warrior. Pentagon officials said that only 700 will be actively involved in the war games at any one time.
Similar exercises have been held in Chicago, New York City, and Jacksonville, Florida. Navy Col. Gary Scheckel told the Oakland Tribune that such training was necessary because 70 percent of the world's population will live in coastal cities like Oakland by 2025, making them likely places that Washington's enemies attack.
Protests against Urban Warrior were organized as soon as news of the operation became public. In Monterey, environmental groups demanded that no amphibious landings take place due to the sensitivity of marine life in Monterey Bay. Although a state environmental agency ruled that no landing could take place, hundreds turned out anyway March 13 at the beach to protest the whole operation.
As Urban Warrior began March 15, state and local cops in riot helmets videotaped some 100 demonstrators picketing the area in Alameda where giant Sea Stallion helicopters and Hovercraft landing vehicles unloaded 550 Marines and their weapons. A few pro-military spectators cheered the soldiers as they arrived. Helicopters and tour buses then took the Marines to the closed-down Oak Knoll Naval Hospital in Oakland. There groups of soldiers bashed down doors and fired into rooms, tanks rolled through the streets, and remote-controlled sniper locating equipment was tested out.
Their "enemy" consisted of actors portraying people said to be sheltering "terrorists," "rioters," and hungry "earthquake victims" penned into a compound surrounded by barbed wire and Marines.
"Money for education, not militarism," and "War is not a game," read some of the signs. A few supporters of the military also showed up to counter the protest. Wayne Morris, who was in the military during the Korean War, came with a sign reading "Go Marines - kill, kill, kill."
The protests continued March 16 when 200 people filled the Oakland City Hall for an open forum held by the City Council. Many of those who spoke against the military operation were youth. A good number of pro-military speakers took the floor as well in a sharply polarized debate. A few Marines in dress uniforms were present, although they did not speak. The City Council itself had divided in a 4-4 vote March 9 over whether to support Urban Warrior. Officials in San Francisco had earlier rejected Pentagon plans to stage the exercises there.
Gustavo López, a high school student in Oakland, spoke against the war games and the Marines in general, asking, "Why do I want to kill my brothers and sisters in Africa and down in Iraq?" A cheer went up after this remark and after other comments critical of the military exercises.
Antonio Icasiano, a member of "Real Urban Warrior Coalition," told the meeting that the title of the operation was picked consciously. "One day the Marines will come and handle us," he said.
Earlier in the day, 22 people were arrested after they barricaded themselves inside the office of Oakland mayor Jerry Brown, an enthusiastic supporter of Urban Warrior. As Oakland cops pushed their way in and dragged people away, other demonstrators stood on the sidewalk chanting "Marines, no! Schools, yes!" and videotaping the cops' actions.
Residents of the predominately Black, working class east Oakland neighborhood around Oak Knoll also complained bitterly about the military actions. "They lied to us," neighborhood resident Barbara Sutherland told the Oakland Tribune. "They had assured us that the blanks would be no louder than the sound of a hand clapping. It sounds like we are in a battle zone." A Pentagon official admitted that flying helicopters around the neighborhoods was not in the announced plans.
A little-noted aspect of Operation Urban Warrior is what is termed a "strategic planning war game." It will include 15 Silicon Valley corporate executives and a group of Navy admirals. This meeting was set to take place March 15 at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Supporters of Rashaad Ali, Socialist Workers candidate for California State Assembly, District 16, which includes most of Oakland and Alameda, distributed a statement at the protests explaining the real purpose of Operation Urban Warrior. "These war maneuvers have nothing to do with fighting `terrorism' or chemical attack," Ali said. "Nor are they practice for humanitarian aid missions, as their boosters in the military brass and Oakland city government claim. The Urban Warrior activities are deadly serious preparations for the use of U.S. military power against working people in every U.S. city who fight for their rights."