War may be over, but peace group keeps marching War may be over, but peace group keeps marching (July 25, 2003)

By Michael Miller

"Whenever someone gives us the finger, we say they're giving us half a peace sign."

Richard Marracq, a member of Mountain View Voices for Peace and a weekly protester on El Camino

Ten people braved the heat one recent Friday, just as they do every Friday, standing amid exhaust fumes and honking horns to get out their message: "Bush lies."

The group, the Mountain View Voices for Peace, began about a month before the war in Iraq. Now that the main hostilities are over, at least according to President Bush, the group is having to rethink its purpose. Members acknowledge that they are protesting a war that many people think is over, but they see a purpose for a sustained peace group in Mountain View.

They are inviting speakers, holding strategy meetings, and planning a protest in a month or two. And they see a catalyst for their protest: troops still dying on the ground in Iraq.

In many ways, the 10 demonstrators who turned out for the Friday vigil were still considering the past. They recalled protesting the Vietnam War and actions in El Salvador, or even the first Gulf War. But their minds are rooted in the future, trying to figure out how to sustain a protest effort that seems, on the surface, to be completely unsuccessful in stopping a war.

Still, because of their experiences in the past, group members are cautiously optimistic about the net result of their protests and other protests throughout the country.

"There are enough people that now are more aware," said Phil Pflager. "Enough people realize this wasn't about democracy, it was about controlling the region."

Pflager and others hope that these small protests and larger protests, like one some Mountain View residents attended in Burlingame in late June, when President Bush arrived for a fundraiser, will add up to a movement that will achieve results.

"It's not that nothing good ever happens," said Tian Harter. "You struggle for ages, and then you get a victory, and then you have to struggle for ages again."

"The movement will grow again as frustration grows," said Lenny Siegel, one of the chairs of the group.

"I think we've got an opportunity and the peace movement as a whole is moving forward," he said at a recent strategy meeting where 20 people turned out. "The question is: how do we as Mountain View Voices for Peace fit into that?"

As the movement grows, members know that it must also change. The group was formed very specifically around the war in Iraq, but must now broaden its focus.

"We initially got together on one issue," Siegel said. "Now there are three issues: the war in Iraq, preventing future wars, and protecting civil liberties."

Still, everyone admits there are difficulties without a specific issue to unite the group and no meaningful progress to speak of.

"People don't see what influence they have on U.S. foreign policy," Siegel said.

Yet the group got one of its largest turnouts after President Bush declared the main hostilities over.

Lack of results didn't stop Richard Marracq, who stood alone on one corner, in the shade, with a dry erase board that he can change with a new message every week. This week, the message was: "Liar in Chief."

"I think the general feeling is that we'll be protesting until the troops come home, as long as they're getting killed every day," he said.

Marracq said that reaction in Mountain View is overwhelmingly positive, as it seemed on this hot Friday. More than twice as many cars express positive reactions as negative ones, he said.

Horns honked and peace signs flashed from numerous cars as they waited at the busy intersection. There were some less positive reactions, including one passer-by in a military uniform who angrily yelled "Get a life," but the protestors took these admonishments in stride.

"They always want to attack me personally," Pflager said. "They don't want to accept the conclusion that Bush lies. I can prove he does."

"Whenever someone gives us the finger," Marracq said, "we say they're giving us half a peace sign."

For more information on the group and a list of upcoming events, visit their web site at www.mvvp.org.

E-mail Michael Miller at intern@mv-voice.com