Marchers Urge Administration: Stop the War NOW

NOW Presses Bush Administration to End Violence in Iraq, Afghanistan

September 24, 2005

Women will be front and center as many thousands rally in the center of our nation's capital today to send a message to the Bush administration that the war in Iraq must end.

"Just as 1.15 million women marched on the National Mall last year to demand full reproductive rights for women, we must march again today 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."

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.

NOW members, activists and volunteers will join Cindy Sheehan, whose protest outside George W. Bush's Texas ranch has called attention to the millions of voices that oppose this war. Sheehan and Drnach, along with many other anti-war speakers and activists, will speak at the march on Saturday.

"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.

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.

The march comes 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."

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For Immediate Release
Contact: Mai Shiozaki, 202-628-8669, ext. 116; cell 202-641-1906

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