Thursday, September 13 6:20 AM SGT Protesters rethink strategies after deadly US attacks LOS ANGELES, Sept 12 (AFP) - This week's deadly terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington are prompting activists to postpone protests and rethink their strategies, groups said Wednesday. The first casualty could be planned anti-globalization demonstrations at the September 29-30 meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in the US capital. "Things are definitely on hold," said Patrick Reinsborough of the San Francisco-based Rainforest Action Network. "I think it's premature to talk about cancellation," Reinsborough said. "We're in a sort of wait-and-see mode." A World Bank spokeswoman said Wednesday that no decision has been made on how to handle the annual financial meetings of 183 countries, but she added that the issue "of the timing of the meetings certainly will be discussed in the coming days, giving the tragedy that has happened." Activists expressed concern that a loud, possibly violent protest in Washington later this month -- like recent ones in Genoa, Italy, Quebec City, Canada and Prague -- could damage support for their causes generated since the 1999 World Trade Organization protests in Seattle. "We are not in a position to predict what kind of mood the country will be in (by late September)," said Soren Ambrose of Washington-based anti-IMF group "50 Years Is Enough." "We don't want to violate those sensibilities," Ambrose said Wednesday. "Previously, we were not in a conversation about whether we should proceed or not," added Robert Weissman of Essential Action. "Now we are." No activist group has pulled out of the IMF-World Bank protests but, "I think you're hearing the beginnings of that conversation," said Carol Welch of Friends of the Earth, an environmental group. "I think people will be a little concerned for their safety," Welch said. Organizations like the AFL-CIO -- the country's largest labor federation -- "are grappling with getting financial assistance to the (terrorist) victims' families, and so I think that could potentially take some resources away that they might have dedicated to the protests." Reinsborough said his group canceled a public protest this week against paper and lumber conglomerate Boise Cascade. "We don't want it to be confused with any doubts that people may have that we stand united against violence in all its forms, whether it's terrorist violence (or) institutional violence," he said. Weissman's Essential Action group was created by Ralph Nader. Nader's office said Wednesday that the veteran consumer activist and the 2000 Green Party presidential candidate would be unavailable for comment on the attacks for at least two more days. Activists expressed sympathy Wednesday for those killed in Tuesday's multiple strikes, though some groups used the attacks to repeat opposition to US policies. The War Resisters League, a small pacifist group, stated on its web site, "may these profound tragedies remind us of the impact US policies have had on other civilians in other lands."
