Rising -- But Still Muted -- Dissent

Congress was just beginning to debate the Administration's gulf policy last week, but thousands of Americans have been voicing their antiwar views for months at marches, teach-ins and vigils around the country. With Jan. 15 approaching, protest organizers are hoping to ignite a bonfire of dissent against any U.S. military action. Said Dennis Murphy, an antiwar demonstrator in Charlotte, N.C.: "These politicians are the people who gave us Vietnam, Watergate, the deficit, the savings and loan crisis, and 'Read my lips.' Are we supposed to stand back and say, 'Oh, go ahead and do what you want to'? Not this time."

But the protest movement so far lacks any firm central direction. Some activists are having trouble linking up across the country -- or even across town. Still, the antiwar cause has become strong enough to rally thousands of people coast to coast. They represent an unusual and surprisingly broad cross section of Americans that includes student activists, relatives of soldiers, Vietnam veterans, middle-class professionals and organizers of the inner-city poor. Their general message: Let economic sanctions fight Saddam Hussein for now; the nation has too many pressing problems at home to wage a military battle overseas.

The antiwar movement appears to be growing steadily. Last fall the Military Families Support Network was born after University of Wisconsin professor Alex Molnar -- the father of a Marine in Saudi Arabia -- wrote an open antiwar letter to President Bush in the New York Times. The Network began a storefront operation in a Milwaukee suburb with one phone. Today the office has five phones, three computers, a fax machine, two full-time staffers -- and 4,000 member families.

Last month in Chicago a march by 65 labor, peace, environmental, religious and political groups drew more than 4,000 people, the largest protest of its kind in the city since the Vietnam War. At Boston's busy Downtown Crossing area, a 12-ft. by 4-ft. antiwar banner attracted so many signatures that four more strips of cloth had to be added. On college campuses around the country, teach-ins and demonstrations were interrupted only by the holiday break.

Some peace groups are beginning to battle local radio and TV stations that refuse to sell air time for antiwar spots. In San Francisco a computer networking system is trying to link up protesters around the country. In Atlanta civil rights groups are working hard to transform Jan. 15 -- Martin Luther King's birthday -- into a Peace with Justice day.

The date heralds what the antiwar groups hope will be the start of an intensive peace campaign. The Military Families Support Network will begin a vigil the day before in front of the White House, and the Women's Peace Group will start a fast. On Jan. 19 and 26, rallies and marches are planned for the streets of the capital. Says Massachusetts activist Tekla Lewin: "George Bush and his advisers are doing everything they can to plug their ears. This will be a way to get heard." The sound is still far from deafening -- but it does keep growing louder.