Activism in Time of War, Reflection in Time of Peace

During the Persian Gulf war, George Bush knew that he needed both his domestic constituents and his international peers on his side. And he had them.

When American victory was apparent, 91 percent of Americans supported the war. Thousands of yellow ribbons sold for 50 cents at gas stations and convenience stores. Even activists who lived and breathed resistance to the war admit that their view was unpopular.

But if the anti-war movement had a voice anywhere in this country, it was on college campuses. Several weeks after air strikes began on Bagdhad, a Crimson poll showed that 36 percent of students at the College did not "support U.S. participation in the war." Forty percent were skeptical of government promises of being "open and honest." And 55 percent said that sanctions were not given enough time to work.

While trying to shed the stereotypes of Vietnam era protestors--long hair hippie-types--the founders of Students Against War in the Middle East (SAWME) tried to mobilize an anti-war effort and give a voice to the dissenters--a group that activist Benjamin Bernard '92 believed to be a majority on campus, despite efforts of pro-war activists to define themselves as representative of the mainstream.

"It was very thoroughly done," he says of what he calls the government's propaganda effort. "In a sense you have to congratulate the pro-war people