Iraq: Profiles in Protest

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Leon supported the Clinton Administration's interventions in the Balkans and the U.S. war in Afghanistan, though he says he is "not 100% [certain] it was the right thing to do." On the issue of Iraq, he sides with critics of Bush who say a war will distract from the more immediate priority of defending the country from terror attacks. "The idea is to get people to think about things on a factual level," he says. "Would a war in Iraq actually contribute to national security or not? What should we be doing to make ourselves safer?" Leon recognizes that the peace movement is battling from behind and that evidence of Iraqi mischief could yet turn some activists into reluctant supporters of war. "What if the Iraqis are not in compliance with the Security Council resolution?" he says. "It is going to be interesting to see what we all continue to agree on."

The Convert Judith Meeker, 48

Like many Americans, Judith Meeker felt her life change as soon as she heard about the 9/11 terrorist attacks. But she never guessed that one year later it would lead her to spend two rainy days fasting in front of the White House in protest against the President's threat to attack Iraq. Meeker worries about terrorism, and she thinks anti-American anger will only increase if the U.S. tries to remove Saddam with military force. "I've been wondering for months how we went from al-Qaeda to Iraq," she says. "I don't disagree that Saddam has done horrible things, but we need to look at the things we've done also."

For Meeker, the war on terrorism has awakened a dormant activist spirit. She protested against the Vietnam War and marched against apartheid, but in recent years she has devoted her energies to raising her four children and teaching fourth grade in Brentwood, Tenn. After Sept. 11, disturbed by anti-Muslim sentiments voiced by her students, she assigned her class to make a quilt to send to the children of Afghanistan. The idea was so popular that Meeker quit her teaching job and founded Quilts for Peace, a nonprofit group that has sent 50 quilts to war zones around the world.

Meeker's new vocation brought her into contact with relief workers in Iraq, who told her of the dismal conditions of Iraqi civilians under the weight of U.N. sanctions. She believes that Western policies have exacerbated the suffering. Her opposition to war with Iraq has taken her to protests in Washington, Nashville and Macon, Ga. Last month she joined women from across the U.S. in their vigil in Washington's Lafayette Park. For two days they subsisted only on coffee and took cover from the cold and rain under flimsy plastic tarps. Meeker says she intends to return to fast again.

The Professor David Fox, 33