Protesters keep vigil for peace

About two dozen peace demonstrators stood silently for a moment in a circle outside Salt Lake City's federal building during the morning rush hour on Thursday, holding hands and reflecting on the start of the U.S. war in Iraq.

A few drivers continued to honk their car horns in support of their efforts, which started the night before at 9 p.m., about 45 minutes after President Bush announced bombing had begun in Iraq.

But Susan Carol Brennan, a teacher who brought her dog, Hank, to the protest, couldn't stop herself from crying. "This is so sad," she said. "I can't believe it. Maybe if we just keep hanging on, we'll be able to stop it."

Brennan and many of the others gathered on the street corner vowed to continue waving signs against the war until the bombing stops. Shea Pickelner of People for Peace and Justice of Utah said the group may try to maintain a vigil at the site around the clock.

Pickelner, who works for an educational non-profit organization she declined to name, said the response from the public has changed now that the fighting is underway.

"Usually we get lots and lots of honking and a couple of jeers," she said. "I feel we are getting more jeers." A few minutes earlier, a man had slowed down his truck to yell out, "(Expletive) hippies. Let's fight the war."

The Rev. Dan Webster of All Saints Episcopal Church in Salt Lake City said he wasn't there "necessarily to change minds. My purpose is to witness my Christian belief that war, particularly this war, is immoral."

Webster, who said he was "ashamed to live in a rogue country," said he is praying for the men and women fighting overseas. "Most people assume if you are for peace, you are against our troops and that's not true."

Each Thursday since October 2001, protesters have gathered on the plaza outside the Federal Building to oppose military action in Iraq. They also planned the 24-hour vigil to coincide with the war's beginning. City officials were flexible, granting a protest permit immediately, organizer Diana Lee Hirschi said.

"There are people here who are pacifists. There are people here who are not pacifist but oppose this (war). There are working people, professionals, kids, grandparents and every age range in between," Hirschi said Wednesday.

Wednesday night, Elisa Lucero brought a pipe and led several demonstrators in a peace pipe ceremony in the Lakota tradition. Tobacco burned as people prayed for peace. Their prayers will rise with the smoke, Lucero said.