The ad shows a 6 year-old girl as a countdown sounds, when stops, the image of the girl is abruptly interrupted by scenes of an oil well in flames and soldiers on a battlefield

WASHINGTON, January 17 (IslamOnline & News Agencies)  - As a part of the growing anti-war campaign within the U.S., opponents of a possible war on Iraq have launched a television advertisement that evokes a commercial campaign from the height of the Cold War in 1964.

The ad, first aired on American national TV networks Thursday, January 16, shows a six-year-old girl in a field of daisies as a countdown sounds, Agence France-Presse (AFP) said Friday, January 17.

When the countdown stops, the image of the girl is abruptly interrupted by scenes of an oil well in flames, soldiers in a battlefield, ambulances and an angry crowd until all is obliterated by a missile launch and a nuclear mushroom cloud.

"War with Iraq," the announcer says. "Maybe it will end quickly. Maybe not. Maybe it will spread. Maybe extremists will take over countries with nuclear weapons. Maybe the unthinkable (will happen)."

"Maybe that's why the overwhelming majority of Americans say to President (George) Bush, 'Let the inspections work'."

The ad is reminiscent of one used by former president Lyndon Johnson, a Democrat, in his 1964 reelection campaign against Republican Barry Goldwater.

In the ad, Johnson sought to portray Goldwater, a staunch anti-communist, as an extremist who would lead the United States to a nuclear confrontation with the Soviet Union.

"Our message is simple: Please let the inspectors do their job," said Eli Pariser of moveon.org, which created the new ad.

"As long as the United Nations team is still hard at work, there is no reason to send in our troops and unleash forces that could escalate into the overthrow of friendly governments or chemical and biological warfare or even nuclear warfare."

‘No blood for oil’

Meanwhile in Los Angeles, 16 anti-war demonstrators were arrested Thursday as they staged a mock funeral in the U.S. city of Los Angeles to protest Washington's plans for a possible attack on Iraq, police said.

The peace activists -- mostly dressed in black and chanting "No war in Iraq!" were picked up after they ignored police orders to clear the area as they laid down on a city-center pavement pretending to be dead.

Police asked people lying on the public walkway to move, and then arrested them as fellow protesters chanted slogans such as "No blood for oil!"

Around 50 people took part in the protest held outside government offices in which they bore roses and cardboard coffins daubed with phrases such as "First Amendment Rights" and "How Many Iraqi Children Did We Kill Today?"

All those taken into custody in the second anti-war protest here this week were later released, police said.

"We're very concerned about U.S. troops being killed, and innocent Iraqis dying by the thousands," said union activist Bob McCloskey who was himself arrested.

The United States is pouring huge numbers of men and equipment into the Gulf region ahead of a possible new war.

Seven ships from the 3rd Fleet carrying 10,000 sailors and other forces were to leave the southern California port of San Diego Friday for the Gulf.