S.D. Peace Marchers Set to Step Out : War protest: Organizers expect it to be largest and most broadly based San Diego protest since the Gulf War began.

SAN DIEGO —  Organizers hope that a “March and Rally to Stop the War in the Middle East,” scheduled for today, will be the largest and, demographically, the most broadly based anti-war event in San Diego since the beginning of the Persian Gulf War.

The San Diego Coalition for Peace in the Middle East, the event’s organizers, is counting on appearances by such rock luminaries as political activist and Dead Kennedys vocalist Jello Biafra and San Diego’s own Mojo Nixon to draw the college-age crowd that in the past has constituted the majority of anti-war demonstrators. Biafra has stirred some controversy with his latest song, “Die for Oil, Sucker.” Local bands scheduled to perform include Shiloh and Daddy Longleggs.

The rally will begin at 11 a.m. with an assembly at Pantoja Park at State and G streets downtown and proceed to the Federal Building on Front Street. A program featuring well-known speakers and both national and local music celebrities will begin about 1 p.m.

The keynote speaker and emcee will be actor David Clennon, perhaps best known for his role as enigmatic advertising agency owner Miles Drentell on the ABC television series, “thirtysomething.” Clennon, who is involved in a number of organizations seeking peace and justice in both the Middle East and Central America, has family in the San Diego area.

Joining Clennon at the speakers rostrum will be former Central Intelligence Agency operative John Stockwell; UC San Diego Professor of Communications Herb Schiller; the first woman conscientious objector, Oceana Bansi; and Sheryl Wossenu, a San Diego housewife and mother of two servicemen stationed in the Persian Gulf.

Stockwell, a top CIA agent during George Bush’s tenure as director of the agency, is the author of the book, “In Search of Enemies,” the only major insider account of CIA operations. Among Schiller’s books is “The Mind Managers,” which deals with the control exerted by the Defense Department and major corporations over the dissemination of public information.