Friday evening protests get traffic honking

Almost every Friday night since November, Nevada Voices for Peace have gathered with signs and candles for a vigil in front of the Legislative Building.

From 5 until 6 p.m., about 40 people stand on the grass along Carson Street, letting commuters know how they feel.

"I'm out here because I feel we can avoid war with diplomacy and with more inspectors," said Nico Thornley, 16, on Feb. 28. "As long as we're making progress then there's no need to go to war," said the Carson High junior, who enjoys debating with teachers in his history class.

Many of the Friday night protesters are not convinced a war in Iraq is justified.

"It's a pipe dream to believe that winning this war will end terrorism, democratize Iraq, and stabilize the Middle East," said Jim Knister. "That's why we went to Vietnam. We were the invaders then, and we'll be the invaders again here."

He said it's morally unacceptable for the strongest military power in the world to be the aggressor.

"The real pretext here is Saddam Hussein -- and he is a cruel dictator, a potentially dangerous and horrible man. But we haven't negotiated or inspected nearly to the point that we should have."

Knister's wife, Jackie, has also attended the gatherings.

A teacher in Placentia, Calif., for 28 years, she held a sign reading "teach peace."

"We taught a lot of conflict management, and this is not the way we taught them to handle conflict," she said. "Fighting breeds fighting."

Despite President Bush's labeling of war protesters as irrelevant in the middle of February, Jackie Knister says she believes in the gatherings.

"If Mr. Bush thinks I'm irrelevant -- maybe I have to do it for myself. Just to speak out about it so I can live with myself."

Aome St. Laurence of Mom & Pop's Diner across the street went down the line letting everyone know they could get a complimentary hot beverage after the protest,

The protests were organized by a loosely organized group of people who know each other through their children's soccer games and First United Methodist Church.

Along with the Knisters, another founding member is Ed Skudlarek. He described the group as thinkers.

"We don't have a lot of knee-jerk people," he said. "They're pretty thoughtful. They want to do what's best for the most amount of people."

He's not sure the protests will continue if the war starts.

"At that point, we'll have to start praying for the troops," he said. "Once the war starts, we really can't be divided, for their sakes."

Skudlarek said he wants the protests to stay positive.

"We're not out here to bash politicians. Most of the people out here are out here to send a purely positive message."

Emotions get high at times, however.

"Go to Iraq!" yelled a man in a truck, honking as he passed.

A protester responded under his breath. "You go to Iraq and fight. Let some good kid stay home."

If You Go

What: Nevada Voices for Peace protests

Where: In front of the Legislative Building, Fifth and Carson streets

When: 5 to 6 p.m. Fridays