Can you imagine being afraid to leave your home because of the very real threat of attack--whether by bomb or bullet or stone? This is a fear, a threat, Iraqi women have to live with every single day.
In April 2006, CODEPINK released Iraqi Women Under Siege, a detailed report <http://www.codepinkalert.org/downloads/Ira... >on the status of Iraqi women. In it, we describe the serious deterioration of women's rights since the U.S. invasion. We explore how the high level of violence in Iraq has constrained women's lives and limited their options, leaving them and their families to grapple with the traumatic impact of war both physically and psychologically.
We also produced a video based on our sponsorship of a tour of Iraqi women to the United States, Women Say NO to War: Iraqi and American Women Speak Out. You can order it here <http://equalityiniraq.com/english.htm >.
Unfortunately, since we produced these materials, the situation of Iraqi women has gotten dramatically worse. A recent Reuters article <http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/I... >documents how sectarian violence is forcing Iraqi women from their jobs and into arranged marriages. We receive heartbreaking letters from our friends in Iraq on a regular basis. Here is an excerpt from one we received a week ago:
Our country before the war in 2003 was beautiful, clean, shiny, full of historic monuments and huge universities. The streets were full of people working, visiting friends and families, drinking tea until very late at night.
Our country was full of colors. Today the only colors are red and dark, red by the blood and dark by the smoke of bombs and cars burning.
We are ready to clean our country, we are ready to rebuild our country with our hands, we are ready to forget that our petrol and our history were stolen. All we ask for is security. Is it so much to ask for?
Unfortunately, security is almost impossible to come by for Iraqi women. In the Kurdish north, the part of the country insulated from most of the violence, the situation of women has reached new lows. Du'a Khalil Aswad, a 17 year old from the town of Bashiqa, in Iraqi Kurdistan, was stoned to death on April 7, 2007. She came from a family of Yazidi faith, and was snatched from her home by Yazidi men who had discovered that she was in love with a Muslim Arab man and had visited him. In front of hundreds of people, including local police, they dragged her to the center of town and stoned her to death. Townspeople watched and even filmed this barbaric act. You can see a portion of the tape at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0pgKn3w8zI (viewer discretion is STRONGLY advised). The killers, obviously well known in the community, are still free.
We have created a petition which demands that the Iraqi Government and Kurdistan Regional Government condemn this brutal act and bring the killers to justice and that they outlaw honor killings, as well as all violence and oppression of women. You can sign it at http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organ... .
We will deliver this petition to the Iraqi Embassy and Kurdish Representatives in Washington, DC. Together we can raise our voices to help our sisters in Iraq.
For further information about the status of Iraqi women, and to learn how women in Iraq are organizing to fight for their own rights, please visit the website of the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq at http://equalityiniraq.com/english.htm .

If you would like to know more about the activism of CODEPINK and their current efforts on Captol Hill, please watch the following link from today’s issue of Washingtonpost.com:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con tent/video/2007/03/28/VI2007032801891.ht ml

I had another one of those "Meanwhile in Baghdad" moments when I turned on the TV today, my first day back home again in Indiana from the front lines of the political war in Washington. CSPAN is running video of hearings that are more than a month old while the Mainstream Media is running live coverage of a hearing about, you guessed it, Anna Nicole Smith. And I am baffled. They are airing live, in real time, a hearing about what will happen with the remains of a person who is famous for being famous, sending out national news alerts that the Judge presiding over the hearing wept when he rendered his decision. Here's the baffling part. For a solid month, activists and Women For Peace have been in hearings in our nation's capital. Standing up, quite literally, for our democracy, our rights as citizens and the human rights of others all over the world. True, we did not have a gallon jug of methadone in our refrigerator in the CODEPINK house on Capital Hill--organic cheese and left over vegetarian soup are more our speed. But we, too, have wept in hearings, and we also created quite a ruckus on our last trip to a hotel.

That's where the similarities begin and end, though. No one waited an inordinate amount of time to call 911 for us. We could see the secret service out on Connecticut Avenue counting up the six floors to pinpoint our location and put an end to our partying. Our idea of fun was to drop a 40-foot pink slip from the sixth floor of the 6 star Mayflower Hotel while George Bush was speaking in a ballroom downstairs. Pink slipping George was one of many highlights in a month filled with actions and opportunities to work for Peace.

The past month of living and working in D.C. with CODEPINK has been an invaluable experience with many victories, both large and small. The women of CODEPINK have experienced both excitement and frustration at trying to move Congress to end this war in Iraq and prevent another in Iran. As a small town, mid-western woman with only a couple of years of activism under my belt, the leadership and mentoring provided by all in CODEPINK has been of incalculable worth. Seeing the determination on Medea Benjamin's face each morning as we marched the eight blocks to the Capital through the snow and ice that nearly shut down the city soothed any doubts I may have had about our effectiveness. When Senators and Representatives thanked us for our concern and for our participation in our democracy, all doubts about propriety were dispelled. When Senate and House staffers followed us to the cafeteria to thank us for speaking truth to power, all questions about our effectiveness were quelled. When we were met on the street and in restaurants and in hallways with smiles and "thumbs up" we were encouraged to continue. It has been an exercise in, to reclaim verbiage from the administration, "adapt to win".

With the change over to Democratic Party Leadership in both the House and the Senate, each day on the Hill offered challenges with dealing with Legislators and finding the line with Capital Police. What was once arrestable is sometimes no longer even chided. What was once unwelcome opinion and treated as disrespectful behavior is now tolerated as part of the exercise of free speech. Do not think that things have changed so much that the path to peace will be a cake walk. It will not be. Congress will not step out onto any limb until they know that not only will their grassroots break their fall, but will grow to support the limb they have climbed out upon and prevent it from cracking under the weight of the issues.

Despite resistance from Dems and Republicans alike, women have been fighting valiantly in the war against the war, taking CODEPINK's anti-war message from the curbside to Congress in a sustained non-violent movement that has been picking up momentum and making a distinct difference in our government's handling of war issues. Our pink presence on the Hill has been a comfort to some, a thorn in the side to others and a spur to those hanging politically somewhere in between. There can be no doubt about our effectiveness, though. Whether we are attending hearings, speaking out and being removed from those hearings, being arrested in Congress or in Legislative offices, or executing actions that spark the imagination and awareness of the public, the women of CodePINK are at the forefront of the peace movement. The momentum gained from the kick off of the occupation project must be sustained. The ground we have gained in the halls of congress must be maintained. Fighting for it, standing up is the only way peace and justice will be obtained.

I feel honored to have worked with so many who have given so much of themselves to the movement, and look forward to my return to D.C.

Lori Perdue

(learn more about CODEPINK's work in DC and around the country at www.codepinkalert.org )

THE OCCUPATION PROJECT: A CAMPAIGN OF SUSTAINED NONVIOLENT CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE TO END IRAQ WAR FUNDING LAUNCHES FEBRUARY 5TH

Social justice advocates will launch the Occupation Project today, an eight week long campaign of nonviolent civil disobedience to end funding for the Iraq war. Concerned citizens all over the country will begin occupying their representatives office, pressuring them to end funding for the Iraq war.

Gael Murphy of CODEPINK states that, "We are starting this campaign of 'extralegal lobbying'--nonviolent civil disobedience--at the offices of
our Representatives and Senators who refuse to publicly pledge their vote against Bush’s request for an additional $100 billion for the war in Iraq." "The U.S. war in Iraq has created a humanitarian catastrophe, with Iraqis forced to flee for safety to Jordan--only to be rejected and forgotten by the international community. We owe an obligation to Iraqis: to stop funding the war and to fully fund war reparations to Iraq so they might be able to rebuild their country after these past 16 years of economic and military warfare," says Kathy Kelly, Co-Coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence and recently returned from Iraq.

The Occupation Project is being organized by Voices for Creative Peace, CODEPINK, National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance, Veterans for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Peace Action affiliates, United for Peace & Justice, Gold Star Families for Peace and many local peace and justice groups. Local campaigns are being organized in 20+ states: New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Maine, Oregon, Alabama
Arizona, California, Washington and Alaska.

FURTHER INFORMATION: May be found in the Occupation Project section on the websites of Voices for Creative Nonviolence (www.vcnv.org ) and of CODEPINK (www.codepinkalert.org ) or call 310.827.4320

Contact:
Medea Benjamin: US phone 415-235-6517 Cuba 011-53-5-292-0573
Catherine Murphy: Cuba 011-53-5-283-2210
Dana Balicki: US phone 202-422-8624

International Delegation Travels to Guantanamo, Cuba to Protest Infamous US Prison
Delegates include mother of current prisoner, former Guantanamo detainee,
and high-level US peace activists

On January 9-13, a first-ever international delegation of former prisoners, families of current prisoners, US lawyers and human rights activists will travel to Guantanamo, Cuba to hold a conference on prison abuses and march to the Cuban-side security gate of the US Naval Base to call for the closure of the illegal prison. The protest in Cuba is part of the January 11 International Day to Shut Down Guantanamo, the day that marks the 5-year anniversary of the first prisoners being sent to Guantanamo.

“I am traveling all the way from Dubai because by heart is overflowing with grief over the abuse and ongoing detention of my son,” says Zohra Zewawi, whose son has been tortured and blinded in one eye during his detention, and has never been charged or tried. Her son was imprisoned in September 2002 and is still a prisoner in Guantanamo. Asif Iqbal, a former detainee who was freed on no charges after years of abuse, is coming to show his support for the basic rights of detainees.

“All prisoners deserve humane treatment and fair trials, which is not happening in Guatanamo,” says retired US Army Colonel and delegate Ann Wright. “US federal courts, not military commissions, should hear the cases against those charged with terrorist acts and the infamous prison in Guantanamo should be immediately shut down.”

The group, organizing by US groups CODEPINK: Women for Peace and Global Exchange, will hold a press conference in Havana on January 9, a conference in Guantanamo on January 10 on prison conditions and international law, and then on January 11 will march from the center of Guantanamo to the security gate of the US Naval Base where the prison is located to hold an interfaith service and call for the closing of the prison. The group will then travel to Havana to debrief the press on January 13. A smaller group will then travel to the US to lobby Congress to shut the prison, restore Habeas Corpus, repeal the Military Commissions Act, and give all detainees fair trials or release them.

In both Guantanamo and Havana, the award-winning film ‘Road to Guantanamo’ will be screened, with a post-showing dialogue with e film co-producer Matt Whitecross and former prisoner Asif Iqbal, whose horrific story of detention is portrayed in the docu-drama.

The 12-person delegation also includes renowned US “peace mom” Cindy Sheehan whose son was killed in the war in Iraq; Adele Welty whose firefighter son was killed on 9/11; US human rights/peace leader Medea Benjamin of Global Exchange and CODEPINK; retired US Colonel and diplomat Ann Wright who resigned over the invasion of Iraq; and legal director of the US Center for Constitutional Rights Bill Goodman who has taken the cases of Guantanamo detainees to the US Supreme Court.

On January 11, the International Day to Shut Down Guantanamo, protests will be held all over the world, including England, Australia and Holland. In the US major protests and radical street action will take place in Washington DC and New York City, plus dozens of cities throughout the country, including outside the US Southern Command in Miami.

For interviews with delegates traveling to Cuba, contact Medea Benjamin by phone or medea@globalexchange.org . For information about US and other international protests on January 11, see www.witnesstorture.org or contact Matt Daloisio, 201-264-4424.

We are still glowing from the results of last week's election. What a beautiful victory for the peace movement. Thank you again for giving peace a vote, for telling Washington we need to change the course both at home and in Iraq. Our work is far from done, however. Now that we've cleaned House, we need to urge our representatives to clean up the mess the Republican Congress has left behind. They need to know we will continue to vote for peace every single day with our words and actions. Peace may begin at home, but the end to war begins in the House, and we can't let them forget that."

We have crafted a fun CODEPINK House Warming gift for you to share with your representative as the new Congress convenes. Our digital hot pink cross-stitch will remind your Congressperson that "Our House Will Be a Very Very Very Fine House When We Bring the Troops Home."

Email your House Warming gift. You can also print the cross-stitch and send it by fax, mail, or frame it and bring it directly to your representative's local office (click here to find your rep's contact info). If you choose to deliver the gift in person, alert the press first and try to get some media attention when you bring the framed cross-stitch to the office; you can also schedule a meeting at that time to encourage your Congressperson to represent the will of the voters and end the war in Iraq.

Along with our cross-stitch, please send your representative a copy of the Mandate For Peace. CODEPINK is partnering with dozens of peace and community groups, including Global Exchange, True Majority, Gold Star Families for Peace, and Iraq Veterans Against War, to launch this exciting post-election campaign.

The Mandate for Peace sets forth this call to keep Congress on its toes:

We insist that the newly elected Congress, in its earliest days in office, pass legislation requiring the prompt removal of all US troops from Iraq and discontinue funding for military purposes in Iraq except the safe withdrawal of all U.S. forces.

Additionally, Congress should:

* Make real its existing stated commitment to no permanent US military bases in Iraq.
* Support an Iraqi-led reconciliation process to shape a peaceful post-occupation transition.
* Investigate and punish companies engaged in illegal war profiteering.
* Commit significant funds to the reconstruction of Iraq, under the control and direction of Iraqis.
*


Along with our cross-stitch, please send your representative a copy of the Mandate For Peace. CODEPINK is partnering with dozens of peace and community groups, including Global Exchange, True Majority, Gold Star Families for Peace, and Iraq Veterans Against War, to launch this exciting post-election campaign.

This is such an exciting time for the peace movement. Let's continue to find creative ways to spread peace, to speak in one voice as a people. Together, we can help make our House a very very very fine House indeed.

With gratitude, hope and fresh resolve,
Andrea, Anedra, Dana, Farida, Gael, Gayle, Jodie, Laura, Liz, Medea, Nancy, Patricia, Rae, Samantha, and Sonia
P.S. Mark your calendar--we are bringing the Mandate for Peace to Washington, D.C. on Saturday, January 27, with a massive march to call on Congress to take immediate action to end the war. Gather your

We started CODEPINK four years ago, shortly after the Bush administration had announced its color-coded alert system. Remember? It was yellow for mellow, orange for high alert, and red was-well, red. We felt the color-coded alerts were a way to manipulate people's post-9/11 fears to justify invading Iraq. We started a new color code, CODEPINK, to say, "Yes, let's bring to justice those who attacked us on 9/11, but let's not wage war on a country that had nothing to do with 9/11." Invading Iraq, as we wrote in a report after our first fact-finding trip to Baghdad before the US invasion, "would be disastrous for the Iraqi people and make us less safe here at home."
Four years later, we have unfortunately been proven all too right. Iraq is indeed a disaster, with some 100 Iraqis dying violent deaths every day. Almost 3,000 of our soldiers have died. We are sinking $8 billion a month into this quagmire, with no end in sight. And we are not, as the recent intelligence report confirms, safer at home.
While many people who joined anti-war rallies early on have since retreated, becoming part of the silent majority who oppose the war, we at CODEPINK have been protesting this war non-stop. We've camped out in the freezing rain outside the White House and in the sweltering heat outside Bush's ranch in Crawford. We went without food for 80 days as part of a fast to bring the troops home. We've stood outside high schools and career fairs encouraging young people not to join the military, provided support to soldiers who refuse to go, and lobbied for veterans' benefits under the banner "Love the Troops, Hate the War." We've lobbying our elected officials, helped organize at congressional hearings, passed local anti-war resolutions and campaigned statewide to bring home our National Guard. We've dogged warmakers and supporters from George Bush to Karl Rove to Hillary Clinton, popping up in "pink slips" at their fundraisers, speeches, parties and homes to tell them their services are no longer desired.
All the while, we've been working closely with Iraqis. We hosted Iraqi women on speaking tours throughout the U.S. and raised funds to help refugees. We traveled to Iraq six times to deepen our knowledge and our networks, and when it became too dangerous (one of our delegations was held up at gunpoint and one of our colleagues killed), we began meeting with Iraqis in Jordan instead. Just last month, we met with Iraqi Parliamentarians to support their efforts at Sunni-Shia reconciliation.
We've been hauled off to jail-over the over again-when we brought our anti-war message to the Democratic and Republican conventions, the United Nations, Senate offices, congressional hearings, political fundraisers, Halliburton shareholder meetings and Pentagon briefings. We've been banned for life from the National Press Club, banned from several military bases, banned from the area around Congress, banned from the United Nations. One of us was even banned from Washington DC for an entire year!
Sadly, despite our efforts and those of hundreds of other peace groups, we have not been able to stop the war. Nor have we been able to spark a truly mass movement. But CODEPINK groups have sprung up in over 250 communities at home and abroad, we have over 150,000 on our email list, we have trained hundreds of new activists, and we have helped turned the tide of public opinion. While early on peace activists were vilified by the press as unpatriotic Saddam-lovers, today we represent the majority of Americans who say this war was a mistake and want to see a speedy withdrawal of our troops. We also represent the majority of Iraqis, who in poll after poll have shown that they want U.S. troops to leave.

(Medea Benjamin is a cofounder of CODEPINK, a women's movement for peace. Please sign the Give Peace A Vote Pledge at http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organ ... )

We started CODEPINK four years ago, shortly after the Bush administration had announced its color-coded alert system. Remember? It was yellow for mellow, orange for high alert, and red was-well, red. We felt the color-coded alerts were a way to manipulate people's post-9/11 fears to justify invading Iraq. We started a new color code, CODEPINK, to say, "Yes, let's bring to justice those who attacked us on 9/11, but let's not wage war on a country that had nothing to do with 9/11." Invading Iraq, as we wrote in a report after our first fact-finding trip to Baghdad before the US invasion, "would be disastrous for the Iraqi people and make us less safe here at home."
Four years later, we have unfortunately been proven all too right. Iraq is indeed a disaster, with some 100 Iraqis dying violent deaths every day. Almost 3,000 of our soldiers have died. We are sinking $8 billion a month into this quagmire, with no end in sight. And we are not, as the recent intelligence report confirms, safer at home.
While many people who joined anti-war rallies early on have since retreated, becoming part of the silent majority who oppose the war, we at CODEPINK have been protesting this war non-stop. We've camped out in the freezing rain outside the White House and in the sweltering heat outside Bush's ranch in Crawford. We went without food for 80 days as part of a fast to bring the troops home. We've stood outside high schools and career fairs encouraging young people not to join the military, provided support to soldiers who refuse to go, and lobbied for veterans' benefits under the banner "Love the Troops, Hate the War." We've lobbying our elected officials, helped organize at congressional hearings, passed local anti-war resolutions and campaigned statewide to bring home our National Guard. We've dogged warmakers and supporters from George Bush to Karl Rove to Hillary Clinton, popping up in "pink slips" at their fundraisers, speeches, parties and homes to tell them their services are no longer desired.
All the while, we've been working closely with Iraqis. We hosted Iraqi women on speaking tours throughout the U.S. and raised funds to help refugees. We traveled to Iraq six times to deepen our knowledge and our networks, and when it became too dangerous (one of our delegations was held up at gunpoint and one of our colleagues killed), we began meeting with Iraqis in Jordan instead. Just last month, we met with Iraqi Parliamentarians to support their efforts at Sunni-Shia reconciliation.
We've been hauled off to jail-over the over again-when we brought our anti-war message to the Democratic and Republican conventions, the United Nations, Senate offices, congressional hearings, political fundraisers, Halliburton shareholder meetings and Pentagon briefings. We've been banned for life from the National Press Club, banned from several military bases, banned from the area around Congress, banned from the United Nations. One of us was even banned from Washington DC for an entire year!
Sadly, despite our efforts and those of hundreds of other peace groups, we have not been able to stop the war. Nor have we been able to spark a truly mass movement. But CODEPINK groups have sprung up in over 250 communities at home and abroad, we have over 150,000 on our email list, we have trained hundreds of new activists, and we have helped turned the tide of public opinion. While early on peace activists were vilified by the press as unpatriotic Saddam-lovers, today we represent the majority of Americans who say this war was a mistake and want to see a speedy withdrawal of our troops. We also represent the majority of Iraqis, who in poll after poll have shown that they want U.S. troops to leave.

(Medea Benjamin is a cofounder of CODEPINK, a women's movement for peace. Please sign the Give Peace A Vote Pledge at http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organ ... )

We started CODEPINK four years ago, shortly after the Bush administration had announced its color-coded alert system. Remember? It was yellow for mellow, orange for high alert, and red was-well, red. We felt the color-coded alerts were a way to manipulate people's post-9/11 fears to justify invading Iraq. We started a new color code, CODEPINK, to say, "Yes, let's bring to justice those who attacked us on 9/11, but let's not wage war on a country that had nothing to do with 9/11." Invading Iraq, as we wrote in a report after our first fact-finding trip to Baghdad before the US invasion, "would be disastrous for the Iraqi people and make us less safe here at home."
Four years later, we have unfortunately been proven all too right. Iraq is indeed a disaster, with some 100 Iraqis dying violent deaths every day. Almost 3,000 of our soldiers have died. We are sinking $8 billion a month into this quagmire, with no end in sight. And we are not, as the recent intelligence report confirms, safer at home.
While many people who joined anti-war rallies early on have since retreated, becoming part of the silent majority who oppose the war, we at CODEPINK have been protesting this war non-stop. We've camped out in the freezing rain outside the White House and in the sweltering heat outside Bush's ranch in Crawford. We went without food for 80 days as part of a fast to bring the troops home. We've stood outside high schools and career fairs encouraging young people not to join the military, provided support to soldiers who refuse to go, and lobbied for veterans' benefits under the banner "Love the Troops, Hate the War." We've lobbying our elected officials, helped organize at congressional hearings, passed local anti-war resolutions and campaigned statewide to bring home our National Guard. We've dogged warmakers and supporters from George Bush to Karl Rove to Hillary Clinton, popping up in "pink slips" at their fundraisers, speeches, parties and homes to tell them their services are no longer desired.
All the while, we've been working closely with Iraqis. We hosted Iraqi women on speaking tours throughout the U.S. and raised funds to help refugees. We traveled to Iraq six times to deepen our knowledge and our networks, and when it became too dangerous (one of our delegations was held up at gunpoint and one of our colleagues killed), we began meeting with Iraqis in Jordan instead. Just last month, we met with Iraqi Parliamentarians to support their efforts at Sunni-Shia reconciliation.
We've been hauled off to jail-over the over again-when we brought our anti-war message to the Democratic and Republican conventions, the United Nations, Senate offices, congressional hearings, political fundraisers, Halliburton shareholder meetings and Pentagon briefings. We've been banned for life from the National Press Club, banned from several military bases, banned from the area around Congress, banned from the United Nations. One of us was even banned from Washington DC for an entire year!
Sadly, despite our efforts and those of hundreds of other peace groups, we have not been able to stop the war. Nor have we been able to spark a truly mass movement. But CODEPINK groups have sprung up in over 250 communities at home and abroad, we have over 150,000 on our email list, we have trained hundreds of new activists, and we have helped turned the tide of public opinion. While early on peace activists were vilified by the press as unpatriotic Saddam-lovers, today we represent the majority of Americans who say this war was a mistake and want to see a speedy withdrawal of our troops. We also represent the majority of Iraqis, who in poll after poll have shown that they want U.S. troops to leave.

(Medea Benjamin is a cofounder of CODEPINK, a women's movement for peace. Please sign the Give Peace A Vote Pledge at http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organ ... )

We started CODEPINK four years ago, shortly after the Bush administration had announced its color-coded alert system. Remember? It was yellow for mellow, orange for high alert, and red was-well, red. We felt the color-coded alerts were a way to manipulate people's post-9/11 fears to justify invading Iraq. We started a new color code, CODEPINK, to say, "Yes, let's bring to justice those who attacked us on 9/11, but let's not wage war on a country that had nothing to do with 9/11." Invading Iraq, as we wrote in a report after our first fact-finding trip to Baghdad before the US invasion, "would be disastrous for the Iraqi people and make us less safe here at home."
Four years later, we have unfortunately been proven all too right. Iraq is indeed a disaster, with some 100 Iraqis dying violent deaths every day. Almost 3,000 of our soldiers have died. We are sinking $8 billion a month into this quagmire, with no end in sight. And we are not, as the recent intelligence report confirms, safer at home.
While many people who joined anti-war rallies early on have since retreated, becoming part of the silent majority who oppose the war, we at CODEPINK have been protesting this war non-stop. We've camped out in the freezing rain outside the White House and in the sweltering heat outside Bush's ranch in Crawford. We went without food for 80 days as part of a fast to bring the troops home. We've stood outside high schools and career fairs encouraging young people not to join the military, provided support to soldiers who refuse to go, and lobbied for veterans' benefits under the banner "Love the Troops, Hate the War." We've lobbying our elected officials, helped organize at congressional hearings, passed local anti-war resolutions and campaigned statewide to bring home our National Guard. We've dogged warmakers and supporters from George Bush to Karl Rove to Hillary Clinton, popping up in "pink slips" at their fundraisers, speeches, parties and homes to tell them their services are no longer desired.
All the while, we've been working closely with Iraqis. We hosted Iraqi women on speaking tours throughout the U.S. and raised funds to help refugees. We traveled to Iraq six times to deepen our knowledge and our networks, and when it became too dangerous (one of our delegations was held up at gunpoint and one of our colleagues killed), we began meeting with Iraqis in Jordan instead. Just last month, we met with Iraqi Parliamentarians to support their efforts at Sunni-Shia reconciliation.
We've been hauled off to jail-over the over again-when we brought our anti-war message to the Democratic and Republican conventions, the United Nations, Senate offices, congressional hearings, political fundraisers, Halliburton shareholder meetings and Pentagon briefings. We've been banned for life from the National Press Club, banned from several military bases, banned from the area around Congress, banned from the United Nations. One of us was even banned from Washington DC for an entire year!
Sadly, despite our efforts and those of hundreds of other peace groups, we have not been able to stop the war. Nor have we been able to spark a truly mass movement. But CODEPINK groups have sprung up in over 250 communities at home and abroad, we have over 150,000 on our email list, we have trained hundreds of new activists, and we have helped turned the tide of public opinion. While early on peace activists were vilified by the press as unpatriotic Saddam-lovers, today we represent the majority of Americans who say this war was a mistake and want to see a speedy withdrawal of our troops. We also represent the majority of Iraqis, who in poll after poll have shown that they want U.S. troops to leave.

(Medea Benjamin is a cofounder of CODEPINK, a women's movement for peace. Please sign the Give Peace A Vote Pledge at http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organ... )

We started CODEPINK four years ago, shortly after the Bush administration had announced its color-coded alert system. Remember? It was yellow for mellow, orange for high alert, and red was-well, red. We felt the color-coded alerts were a way to manipulate people's post-9/11 fears to justify invading Iraq. We started a new color code, CODEPINK, to say, "Yes, let's bring to justice those who attacked us on 9/11, but let's not wage war on a country that had nothing to do with 9/11." Invading Iraq, as we wrote in a report after our first fact-finding trip to Baghdad before the US invasion, "would be disastrous for the Iraqi people and make us less safe here at home."
Four years later, we have unfortunately been proven all too right. Iraq is indeed a disaster, with some 100 Iraqis dying violent deaths every day. Almost 3,000 of our soldiers have died. We are sinking $8 billion a month into this quagmire, with no end in sight. And we are not, as the recent intelligence report confirms, safer at home.
While many people who joined anti-war rallies early on have since retreated, becoming part of the silent majority who oppose the war, we at CODEPINK have been protesting this war non-stop. We've camped out in the freezing rain outside the White House and in the sweltering heat outside Bush's ranch in Crawford. We went without food for 80 days as part of a fast to bring the troops home. We've stood outside high schools and career fairs encouraging young people not to join the military, provided support to soldiers who refuse to go, and lobbied for veterans' benefits under the banner "Love the Troops, Hate the War." We've lobbying our elected officials, helped organize at congressional hearings, passed local anti-war resolutions and campaigned statewide to bring home our National Guard. We've dogged warmakers and supporters from George Bush to Karl Rove to Hillary Clinton, popping up in "pink slips" at their fundraisers, speeches, parties and homes to tell them their services are no longer desired.
All the while, we've been working closely with Iraqis. We hosted Iraqi women on speaking tours throughout the U.S. and raised funds to help refugees. We traveled to Iraq six times to deepen our knowledge and our networks, and when it became too dangerous (one of our delegations was held up at gunpoint and one of our colleagues killed), we began meeting with Iraqis in Jordan instead. Just last month, we met with Iraqi Parliamentarians to support their efforts at Sunni-Shia reconciliation.
We've been hauled off to jail-over the over again-when we brought our anti-war message to the Democratic and Republican conventions, the United Nations, Senate offices, congressional hearings, political fundraisers, Halliburton shareholder meetings and Pentagon briefings. We've been banned for life from the National Press Club, banned from several military bases, banned from the area around Congress, banned from the United Nations. One of us was even banned from Washington DC for an entire year!
Sadly, despite our efforts and those of hundreds of other peace groups, we have not been able to stop the war. Nor have we been able to spark a truly mass movement. But CODEPINK groups have sprung up in over 250 communities at home and abroad, we have over 150,000 on our email list, we have trained hundreds of new activists, and we have helped turned the tide of public opinion. While early on peace activists were vilified by the press as unpatriotic Saddam-lovers, today we represent the majority of Americans who say this war was a mistake and want to see a speedy withdrawal of our troops. We also represent the majority of Iraqis, who in poll after poll have shown that they want U.S. troops to leave.