Rain or shine, protests continue

by Lawrence Aaron, The Record

Grass-roots efforts like this have raised consciousness of the anti-war movement among local people who see the demonstrators every week.

FOR A short while Wednesday, as a light snow was beginning to fall, it looked like no one would show up for the weekly anti-war demonstration in Teaneck.

I thought the protesters might have been taking the week off to get ready for the big one this week, which marks the fifth anniversary of America's invasion of Iraq.

But every Wednesday at 4:30 p.m., like clockwork, the demonstrators materialize at the Teaneck Armory. And last week was no exception.

Some bring their own protest signs, some pick up signs lying around. Each is motivated by a different personal reason. But the shared desire to see the war come to an end keeps them coming back.

Paula Rogovin, 60, of Teaneck, the driving force behind the local chapter of Military Families Speak Out, is the chief organizer of the loose coalition of seasoned protesters and ordinary citizens demonstrating at the armory.

This was a day she could have been excused from duty on the front line of protesters at Teaneck Road and Liberty Street. Her son, a 25-year-old Marine, left Wednesday for his second deployment in Iraq. He'd been back in the United States since October. They were expecting a second tour of duty, but not so soon.

Weekly protests at the Teaneck Armory over the past 2 1/2 years haven't stopped the war. But grass-roots efforts like this certainly have raised consciousness of the anti-war movement among local people who see the demonstrators every week. Occasionally, protesters from around New Jersey and out of state join the vigil.

In this and other wars, it's a tough job to organize against the establishment view. But somebody had to do it.

"In the beginning, people were made to feel unpatriotic for opposing the war," Rogovin said. "The changes in public opinion are a result of the small vigils around the country and the letters to the editor. All that plays a part."

The demonstration on the war's fifth anniversary this Wednesday will be a two-parter — the first at the standard time and place, and the second from 6 to 7 p.m. outside the Paramus office of Rep. Scott Garrett, R-Wantage, on Route 4 east near Forest Avenue.

Not one to confine her protest to the weekly vigil, Rogovin is working with other peace groups to get support from Congress and the governor for "defederalization" of New Jersey National Guard troops.

At one of Governor Corzine's recent hearings on his toll-hike plan, Rogovin said $20 billion in New Jersey taxpayers' money has been spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. (The figure came from an anti-war coalition's estimate.) That sum could have financed state projects and reduced the deficit, she said. Corzine wouldn't bite. Although Corzine declined to help her push for defederalization, the governor has criticized the Pentagon's over-reliance on the state's National Guard units.

The New Jersey National Guard anticipates having 3,200 deployed in Iraq this year. Troops are now in training for the call-up announced last fall. So far, Corzine has recognized 87 soldiers with ties to New Jersey for giving their lives in this war.

Earlier this week, when news broke of eight Americans killed in Iraq, Rogovin panicked. Then she realized her son could not have been one of them. He had not been deployed yet.

A suicide bomber killed five American soldiers in central Baghdad on Monday. In a separate incident that day in Diyala province, three soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb. It was the deadliest day for American forces this year.

"People are getting killed for no good reason at all," said Cornelius Enright, a 60-year-old Ridgewood resident and Vietnam veteran who protests at the Teaneck Armory most Wednesdays. "This war has been going on five years, almost 4,000 kids have been killed and untold numbers of kids have been damaged mentally and physically. You can't be sure of the numbers they're giving you."

Presidential candidates have proposed strategies for ending the war, but nothing will be clear until after November. At least until then, protesters expect to be on patrol at the Teaneck Armory, every Wednesday at 4:30.

Lawrence Aaron is a Record columnist. Contact him at aaron@northjersey.com. Send comments about this column to letterstotheeditor@northjersey.com.