Marchers Converge on D.C. to Tell Bush: Stop the War NOW!

NOW Presses Administration to End Violence in Iraq

September 29, 2005

NOW activists at the peace march

Women were front and center as hundreds of thousands rallied in the center of our nation's capital on Sept. 24 to send a message to the Bush administration that the war in Iraq must end. NOW leaders and activists created a visible presence at the day-long series of events by speaking, marching, gathering petition signatures, selling buttons and t-shirts, and spreading the message that peace is a feminist issue.

"Just as 1.15 million women marched on the National Mall last year to demand full reproductive rights for women, we are marching again to call for an end to this irresponsible war," said NOW Action Vice President Melody Drnach. "The media aren't listening, the Bush administration isn't listening, Congress isn't listening. We must raise our voices and be heard."

Drnach joined Medea Benjamin of CODEPINK and Cindy Sheehan, whose protest outside George W. Bush's Texas ranch called attention to the millions of voices that oppose this war, at Freedom Plaza to kick off the day with an early morning women's contingent rally. Singer and longtime peace activist Joan Baez gave a moving performance at the women's rally, sending marchers off inspired.

Marchers included Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.), Ellie Smeal, Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Dolores Huerta, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Jesse Jackson Sr, Cindy Sheehan, Julian Bond, and Rev. Al Sharpton.

Other notable activists marching and speaking on Saturday included: Feminist Majority President Eleanor Smeal; United Farm Workers of America Vice President Dolores Huerta; NAACP Chair Julian Bond; Representatives Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.); Actor Tyne Daly; Actor/Singer Harry Belafonte; author and professor Dr. Cornel West; Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. and Rev. Al Sharpton.

As many as 300,000 marchers crowded the streets of D.C., marching in front of the White House and ending the day with a concert on the Washington Monument Grounds.

"A growing number of people in this country are dissatisfied with the failed strategies of the Bush administration's war on Iraq and believe that the president has irresponsibly undermined the security of the United States," Drnach said.

At the annual NOW conference in July, NOW members voted to join the United for Peace and Justice mobilization Sept. 24-26 to call for an end to the Bush administration's campaign of militarism and corporate profit that has contributed to anti-U.S. sentiment around the world and exacerbated the plight of women and children in these countries. The "Stop the War NOW" resolution also supports a "constructive and expeditious withdrawal of American troops from Iraq" and an investment of humanitarian funds to encourage Iraq rebuilding.

Left to right: NOW Action Vice President Melody Drnach, actor and activist Tyne Daly, Feminist Majority founder and President Eleanor Smeal, United Farm Workers of America co-founder and Vice President Dolores Huerta.

The march came just weeks before the draft of the Iraqi constitution will be sent to the Iraqi people for a vote. In its current form, the constitution—which embraces conservative Islamic religious law—threatens to trade away the rights of Iraqi women.

"Without a guarantee of women's equality in this constitution, democracy in Iraq will never be realized," Drnach said. Since its inception, NOW has promoted an agenda of peace, as war and violence frequently prove costly to the most vulnerable members of society: women and children. Women's visibility at the march and other events this weekend will remind the Bush administration that its foreign policy and militarism has been destructive both at home and abroad.

"Enough is enough," Drnach said. "Feminists are calling for an immediate end to this destructive and costly war."