BANGOR – Organizers of a music and poetry gathering in Bangor had hoped for peace Sunday, but instead found their country at war.

“Dismayed” is how Mike Howard described his reaction Sunday afternoon after having learned about the missile and bomb attacks on Afghani sites linked with Osama bin Laden and his network of terrorism. Howard is on the education committee of the Peace and Justice Center of Eastern Maine, which organized the three-hour program that mixed music and words to promote peaceful solutions to worldwide problems.

Sunday’s gathering at the Hammond Street Congregational Church coincided with what was supposed to be National Peace Action Day. Just inside the church, organizers asked people to sign a petition to President Bush, urging him to find justice without costing more innocent lives and to look for long-term peaceful solutions.

The bombings and long-range missile attacks came too soon, before other avenues were exhausted, Howard said. Finding out who was responsible, where they are and how to apprehend them takes patience, he said. Sunday’s response likely would involve the deaths of civilians, he said.

“Even if it’s not intended, it’s predictable when you start bombarding from a long distance,” Howard said. “That’s not the kind of measure that’s going to convince people that we are as respectful of innocent lives in Afghanistan as we’re mourning the loss of innocent lives here.”

Judy Robbins, representing the organization Peninsula Peace and Justice Center, based in Sedgwick, said she was concerned that the military strike “will in fact bring about a much worse situation” in the form of retaliation.