Profiles in Protest

JOHN CHIASSON FOR TIME
BANNER: Meeker takes cover in one of her handmade peace quilts

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After returning from the front, Sheehan-Miles left the Army and helped start the Gulf War Resource Center in Silver Spring, Md., one of the first groups to call attention to the plight of Gulf War veterans who have suffered from illnesses since returning home.

Sheehan-Miles also became a critic of U.N. sanctions against Iraq. And since Bush began talking about another war, Sheehan-Miles has tried to organize opposition to it among fellow Gulf War vets. He says he will reluctantly support a war if it comes, but he is embarrassed that the Administration has been so aggressive in pushing for it. "The Administration seems to be grabbing for a reason," he says. "My biggest concern is that we seem to think...everybody in Iraq will wave a U.S. flag and say thanks for liberating us. But we've encouraged more hostility [in Iraq] than we're aware of."

Some of the antiwar vets plan to attend rallies in Washington this week, hoping to bring more Gulf War veterans to the cause. But like the rest of the antiwar activists, Sheehan-Miles has plenty of persuading to do. In late September, he set up an antiwar website veteransforcommonsense.org ) and sent out e-mail messages to all the veterans he knew, encouraging them to sign a statement that calls on the White House to get U.N. Security Council authorization before mounting an invasion. So far, about 300 vets have signed on.