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U.S. Anti-War Movement Breaks Ranks with the 60s

ReutersMonday, March 31, 2003; 11:30 AM

By Greg Frost

BOSTON (Reuters) - Peace vigils and rallies against war in Iraq have broken out in U.S.towns and cities, drawing hundreds of thousands of participants.

Student strikes are disrupting college campuses, where old protest anthems like WeShall Overcome mix with the tinny sound of speeches belted out over bullhorns.

The scene may resemble the Vietnam-era U.S. student movement. But scratch the surfaceand it soon becomes clear that this peace push is strikingly different from that of the

1960s when it was a movement of the young, of university students and of those on thepolitical left .

Now participants in U.S. anti-war protests cut across the spectrum of ages, races and

backgrounds and include many who would consider themselves mainstream Americans.They are joining a more predictable crowds of college students, environmentalists,socialists, anarchists and other activists.

John Llewellyn, a 45-year-old computer industry worker from Knoxville, Tenn., is

among the tens of thousands of people who turned up at a recent anti-war protest inBostonthe citys biggest demonstration in at least 30 years.

A former longtime Republican, Llewellyn said he has never protested against anything

in his life and admitted he does not fit the mold of an anti-war activist, but said PresidentBushs policies have gone too far.

Its gotten to the point that its scary, said Llewellyn, who was visiting Boston with his

family.

NOT THE USUAL SUSPECTS

Although turnout at anti-war rallies has been strong, polls show that most Americanssupport the war in Iraq.

Still, many of Llewellyns fellow protesters said the war has stirred something within

them that has lain dormant for decades and, in some cases, their entire lives.

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Gerson said he is stunned by how quickly the anti-war movement has grown, noting thatit took years to reach a critical mass of people opposed to the conflict in Vietnam.

New York has already seen two demonstrations within five weeks numbering in the

hundreds of thousandsa broad coalition of 200 groups under the umbrella of United for

Peace and Justice.

RE-ENERGIZED STUDENTS

Part of the movements strength, Gerson said, comes from a newly energized student

basea big shift from the economically booming 90s that generally kept a lid oncampus activism.

The students who are coming out to demonstrations ... are rediscovering their political

power, he said. They are learning lessons about American society and about democracythat have been submerged for the last decade.

Further distinguishing the present peace drive is the absence of a draft that sucked a

generation of American men into military service and served as a major catalyst for thepeace movement of the late 60s.

In place of the draft, Gerson said, is a sense of straight altruism shared by people whoare simply concerned about their countrys future.

Stephen Nathanson, a philosophy professor at Northeastern University and a former

Vietnam-era peace activist, said many current demonstrators also are more comfortablewith their sense of patriotism.

In the 60s, people just accepted that if they were against the war, they were going to be

anti-patriotic, Nathanson said. Now, people seem to understand that you can oppose thewar because youre patriotic. People who oppose the war actually think its bad for thecountry, that it will make the country unsafe.

Joshua Jackson, an anti-war organizer at Hampshire College in western Massachusetts,said activism is not confined to lefty college towns like Madison, Wis., or Berkeley,Calif., -- and it goes beyond the free-love, drug-happy flower power of the late 60s.

Sure there are punk rockers and hippies taking part, he said. But this is not a counter-

cultural movement: Youre seeing a lot of normal people involved with this.