Peace activists will kick off a statewide petition campaign today urging Governor Corzine to keep National Guard soldiers from going to Iraq.

"Now is no time to send one-half of the New Jersey National Guard to Iraq," said Terri Suess of Newark, a member of New Jersey Peace Action.

"Now is the time to enter international, round-the-clock negotiations, draw down the troops, and bring peace to Iraq."

Some of the state's more than 3,000 Guard soldiers who will be deployed to Iraq in mid-September are scheduled to start training in April at Fort Indiantown Gap, a National Guard center in Pennsylvania.

The petition campaign will kick off at a rally at 11 a.m. at Military Park on Broad Street in Newark.

"Members of the U.S. military have been misused and abused through repeated deployments, stop-lossing, and extension of deployments," said Paula Rogovin of Teaneck, a member of the Bergen County chapter of Military Families Speak Out.

Rogovin, whose youngest son, a Marine, returned from seven months in Iraq in October, said she asked Corzine to "defederalize" the Guard troops at Corzine's toll hike plan hearing in East Brunswick.

"He wasn't thrilled," Rogovin said.

Asked if they believe they can convince the governor to stop the deployment, Rogovin said, "We are going to try with all our strength."

Corzine has praised the soldiers as patriots and has said he did not agree with the "overuse" of Guard troops.

The deployment is a "done deal," said Lt. Col. James Garcia, a New Jersey Guard spokes-man.

More deployment news.

"They've already received their 'warning orders,'" said Garcia, referring to the Guard's 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. "A lot of these soldiers volunteered for this tour, many of them for their second tour. It's not like they are being dragged."

The activists said they hope to present the petition to the governor by March 31.

They plan to distribute the petitions on the streets, at peace rallies, and online.

"The reason they were federalized has been met," said Suess, a teacher, who became involved in the peace movement after 9/11. "Saddam Hussein has been deposed, there are no weapons of mass destruction.

"Seventy percent of the American public is against this war," Suess said. "I bet in New Jersey it's even higher than that."

Peace activists will kick off a statewide petition campaign today urging Governor Corzine to keep National Guard soldiers from going to Iraq.

"Now is no time to send one-half of the New Jersey National Guard to Iraq," said Terri Suess of Newark, a member of New Jersey Peace Action.

"Now is the time to enter international, round-the-clock negotiations, draw down the troops, and bring peace to Iraq."

Some of the state's more than 3,000 Guard soldiers who will be deployed to Iraq in mid-September are scheduled to start training in April at Fort Indiantown Gap, a National Guard center in Pennsylvania.

The petition campaign will kick off at a rally at 11 a.m. at Military Park on Broad Street in Newark.

"Members of the U.S. military have been misused and abused through repeated deployments, stop-lossing, and extension of deployments," said Paula Rogovin of Teaneck, a member of the Bergen County chapter of Military Families Speak Out.

Rogovin, whose youngest son, a Marine, returned from seven months in Iraq in October, said she asked Corzine to "defederalize" the Guard troops at Corzine's toll hike plan hearing in East Brunswick.

"He wasn't thrilled," Rogovin said.

Asked if they believe they can convince the governor to stop the deployment, Rogovin said, "We are going to try with all our strength."

Corzine has praised the soldiers as patriots and has said he did not agree with the "overuse" of Guard troops.

The deployment is a "done deal," said Lt. Col. James Garcia, a New Jersey Guard spokes-man.

"They've already received their 'warning orders,'" said Garcia, referring to the Guard's 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. "A lot of these soldiers volunteered for this tour, many of them for their second tour. It's not like they are being dragged."

The activists said they hope to present the petition to the governor by March 31.

They plan to distribute the petitions on the streets, at peace rallies, and online.

"The reason they were federalized has been met," said Suess, a teacher, who became involved in the peace movement after 9/11. "Saddam Hussein has been deposed, there are no weapons of mass destruction.

"Seventy percent of the American public is against this war," Suess said. "I bet in New Jersey it's even higher than that."