New York, NY —

Anchor: Anti-war groups predict that Saturday will be the single biggest day of peace protests in human history, with rallies and marches planned for hundreds of cities around the globe. WNYC's Brian Lehrer has an idea to increase the chances of avoiding a war. Protest two presidents instead of one.

Brian: At yesterday's historic UN Security Council session, at least two things became crystal clear. The U.S. has almost no allies in its drive for war, and no one believes Iraq.

I had two favorite moments in the three hour speechfest. One was the French Foreign Minister's ironic reference to France as an old country, as he tweaked Donald Rumsfeld's knock on old Europe . The other was the Iraqi Ambassador's totally unironic plea to take him seriously. Yesterday morning, just before the UN session, Saddam Hussein had issued a presidential decree banning all weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The ambassador was shocked, shocked that anyone would think the decree was insincere, or late. Thanks, Ambassador, you made me laugh out loud.

So here's a proposal for any willing protester. Why not carry a sign that reads Bush, Don't Do It on one side, and Saddam, Resign on the other.

Check out the speeches from the Security Council meeting. No one claimed that Iraq is doing anything other than try its best to trick the inspectors: not Pakistan or Mexico or Angola, not China or Russia or Cameroon. Certainly not France or Germany, whose containment proposal assumes an uncooperative foe.

So the anti-war movement might advocate two paths to peace: One to stop the Silver-Spooned Cowboy from going military when it's not necessary, the other to get the Butcher of Baghdad to give the world a break.

If this is really an anti-war movement, and not just an anti-U.S. movement, why not also pressure Saddam Hussein? The chant No Blood For Oil is fine as far as it goes. How about No Blood for Nerve Agents , No Blood For Anthrax? Or No Blood For Nukes ?

Not ready to swing both ways as a protester today? Afraid of diluting the message? Fair enough. So how about this:

Focus on the U.S. today, then be ready to turn your attention toward Iraq, if necessary.

The hard reality is, no matter how many millions of people rally today in no matter how many hundreds of cities, and no matter how many Security Council members vote for containment over war, Bush will almost certainly do it anyway with his Coalition of the Willing. In his world view, he's come too far to back down. So if the French containment movement fails and the U.S. is really about to fire that first Cruise Missile, exile for Saddam will be the only remaining way to prevent war. And remember what that will probably mean: tens of thousands of Iraqis will get killed, at least. Hundreds of thousands will become refugees. In SADDAM's world view, destroying all those lives is worth it for his pride.

So before it gets to that point, why not all gather together again, in the same hundreds of cities - maybe NEXT Saturday - and demand in equally strong words: Saddam Hussein, spare the world this war! You might even get Bush and Chirac to make up and both join in.

In the meantime, here's a free chant for anyone who wants to use it today:

1,2,3,4 Bush Don't Start An Unjust War, 5,6,7,8 Saddam Step Down It's Not Too Late