"Let's be clear," the letter reads. "We supported the gulf war. We supported our intervention in Afghanistan. We accept the logic of a just war. But Mr. President, your war on Iraq does not pass the test."

Protest Groups Using Updated Tactics to Spread Antiwar Message
A flurry of public dissent is planned over the next several weeks, tied to critical dates like Jan. 27, when Hans Blix, the chief United Nations weapons inspector, gives the latest report on his findings in Iraq, and Jan. 28, when the president gives his State of the Union address.

Some efforts are directed at people who may be skeptical about the war, but who are not comfortable attending marches and who do not want their names or money attached to catch-all activism that includes protests of Starbucks or sport utility vehicles.

Last month, Win Without War, the most mainstream of the antiwar coalitions, announced its formation with a carefully worded mission statement. "We are patriotic Americans who share the belief that Saddam Hussein cannot be allowed to possess weapons of mass destruction," the statement read. "But we believe that a pre-emptive military invasion of Iraq will harm American national interests."

Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities, a member of the coalition, was responsible for the signed letter in The Wall Street Journal.

"Let's be clear," the letter reads. "We supported the gulf war. We supported our intervention in Afghanistan. We accept the logic of a just war. But Mr. President, your war on Iraq does not pass the test."

The letter's primary backer, Edward Hamm, a retired Minnesota businessman, said he sought out the business group because of a lack of organized Republican dissent.

It did not matter, Mr. Hamm said, that the group's founder was the liberal entrepreneur Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry's. The group had the structure to help Mr. Hamm get his message out, and they allowed him to frame it from a Republican point of view.

"There's no one in the world more for gunboat diplomacy than me, but this administration hasn't proven its case," said Mr. Hamm, who said he gave several hundred thousand dollars a year to the Republican Party. "Insane left-wingers are not going to convince people of that. You need Republicans, business people and military people. I started casting about, and I found these guys."

Much of the efforts are taking place online, where Internet protest organizations like MoveOn.org and TrueMajority.com are struggling to transform Web-based dissent into actual activism.

The MoveOn Web site enlists users to sign a petition opposing a pre-emptive strike against Iraq. It then instantly sorts and logs signers by state, to facilitate organizing at a local level. Users can make credit card donations to antiwar efforts.

When the organization decided last month to extend its work online to the production of antiwar newspaper and television advertisements, the site raised more than $300,000 in 48 hours. The average donation, said MoveOn directors, was about $30.

"You have to meet people where they are," said Eli Pariser, 22, international campaigns director for the online group. "You get a lot of people to chip in a little bit, and then it's our job to translate that into something bigger."
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/15/politics/15PROT.html?pagewanted=all&position=top