Anti-War Protest in Ventura Draws 150 : Gulf crisis: Gathering is the county’s largest such demonstration since Iraq’s August invasion. More peace rallies are planned.

Carrying signs and waving American flags, about 150 people took to the streets Saturday in the largest Ventura County anti-war demonstration since the Persian Gulf crisis erupted five months ago.

Protesters of all ages stood along Telegraph Road and Main Street in Ventura for much of Saturday afternoon. Simple messages were printed on their homemade placards. “An eye for an eye makes the world go blind.” “Blood is thicker than oil.” “Read my lips--no new war.”

Although demonstrators were heckled and spat upon during another county anti-war rally, Saturday’s effort was widely greeted with support from passing motorists who waved peace signs and honked their horns. Several times the honking drowned out other sounds.

“No one approves of what Saddam Hussein has done,” demonstrator Robert Chianese, 48, said. “But war is not the answer. We’re just going to stir up a hornets’ nest.”

Michael Mora, 41, who stood quietly holding an Indian peace pipe, said he believes war could be averted by letting the sanctions against Iraq take hold.

“I’m a veteran of war, like my father,” Mora said. “How many generations are we going to send off to war?”

Shortly before the protest began in Ventura, Congress granted President Bush the power to wage war against Iraq. The resolution authorizing Bush to use any means to evict Iraq from Kuwait passed the Senate by a vote of 52 to 47 and the House by a vote of 250 to 183.

The authority falls just short of a formal declaration of war, an action the United States has not taken since Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941.

“Haven’t we learned anything from history?” said Jan Magson, who attended the protest with her husband and two children. “We’ve got to build a world beyond war. Right now, the only way I can feel good is by taking an active stance against a war in the gulf. I’m afraid it will only be another Vietnam.”

But not everyone supported the anti-war protesters at the rally. Blasting rock singer Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” from a car stereo, several high school students from Camarillo said they attended the demonstration to back the effort in the gulf.

“We want to show that we support our boys,” said Trent Hamilton, 17, a senior at Camarillo High School. “I could be over there, and I would want to be supported by someone like me.”

Chris Hartnett, 28, an anti-war protester who was listening to Hamilton, quickly cut in. “Would you die for the price of oil? That’s what’s happening? Let’s give the sanctions a chance.”

Hamilton responded: “We gave the sanctions a chance. . . . Our national interest and our economy are at stake here.”

At an earlier rally on Saturday, about 50 people demonstrated at Saviers Road and Channel Islands Boulevard in Oxnard, said Bob Costello, spokesman for the Ventura County Coalition for Peace in the Persian Gulf.

Since Iraq invaded Kuwait on Aug. 2, the peace movement in Ventura County has been slow to gain momentum.

“As we’re getting closer to the deadline,” protester Geralyn Fenwick, 28, said, “people are getting scared.”

Other peace rallies scheduled in Ventura County include:

* Monday--A prayer vigil will be held at 7 p.m. at the United Methodist Church at 1338 Santa Clara St. in Ventura.

* Tuesday--A candlelight vigil will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. at the County Government Center on Telephone Road in Ventura. The group Prayers for Peace will hold a meeting at 6:30 p.m. at St. Columba’s Episcopal Church, 1251 Las Posas Road in Camarillo.

* Jan. 26--The Camarillo Coalition for Peace in the Persian Gulf will hold a rally at 2 p.m. at St. Columba’s Episcopal Church.

If war is declared, coalition members plan to gather at Plaza Park at 675 E. Santa Clara St. in Ventura at 5 p.m. for a rally or candlelight vigil.