A local activist writes, "It has been clear for weeks now that George Bush was planning to escalate the war in Iraq. 20,000 troops will be the beginning, not the end of this escalation, if he is not stopped. All around the country, emergency rallies and actions were organized on Thursday, January 11th in response."

Protests took place in Santa Cruz at 6pm at the Clock Tower ( Photos), in Salinas at 6pm in front of the Alisa St. Post office and in Monterey at 4pm across from McDonald’s, 610 Del Monte Ave. In addition to the rallies on Thursday, other peace activists staged a "human sign" protest "against this monstrous war." On Saturday, at 1pm, they met at Cowell's Beach (Santa Cruz Main Wharf) to form a sign on the beach saying "Out of Iraq." ( Photos)

There's also a series of upcoming educational events at UC Santa Cruz, including a speech on Wed., Jan 17 entitled "The Crisis of Iraq as America's Crisis" from Middle East historian Juan Cole, and a "Back from Iraq" presentation from independent journalist Dahr Jamail on Wed., Jan 24.

Many other anti-war events took place around the Bay Area, including protests in San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, El Cerrito, Mountain View, San Jose, Petaluma, San Rafael, and Benicia. See Indybay's Anti-War page for more information.