United for Peace of Pierce County, WA - We nonviolently oppose the reliance on unilateral military actions rather than cooperative diplomacy.

The leading French newspapers turned in a pitiful performance this weekend in reporting on the massive antiwar demonstration in Washington, D.C., on Sat., Jan. 27. -- The appearance of Jane Fonda interested them as much as (or, in the case of Le Figaro, more than) the political significance of the antiwar movement’s new focus on appealing to Congress to cut funding for the Iraq war. -- Le Monde compiled a mere four paragraphs from agency reports.[1] -- Le Figaro devoted almost as much attention to Jane Fonda as to the demonstration itself.[2] -- Libération, which these days is only a pale shadow of its former self, produced a slightly longer article, but one not much different in its emphasis.[3] -- No major French paper sent a reporter to the demonstration, despite its obvious international importance. -- The paltry coverage reflects the financial difficulties of the French press, which is now experiencing “the worst crisis in its history,” as Ignacio Ramonet observed in an article in the January 2007 number of Le Monde diplomatique. -- But it relates to the intensified media concentration seen elsewhere in the world as well. -- “In France, the ownership of big media is concentrated in the hands of a few industrial and financial groups, including two arms manufacturers: Lagardère (through Hachette) and Dassault (through Socpresse),” Ramonet noted (“Menaces sur l’information,” Le Monde diplomatique, January 2007, p. 1)....

On Saturday, January 27, in Washington, several tens of thousands of marchers answered the call from the United for Peace and Justice coalition to support the demand for the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. The demonstrators, who came from all over the country, waved signs on which one could read: "Bring the troops home now!" "the surge is a lie," and "clean water is better than bombs."

The demonstration, the most ambitious since the one that mobilized between 100,000 and 300,000 people in September 2005 in Washington, was organized near the Capitol, not the White House. For it's members of Congress, who meet on Capitol Hill, that opponents of the war wish to address. "Congress has the power to end this war," said a spokesperson for the United for Peace and Justice coalition on the eve of the rally, noting that "the will of the voters [who dealt a stinging defeat to Republicans in the November legislative elections] must be respected, heard, and acted upon."

Many orators were expected to speak, including Jane Fonda -- oracle of the mobilization against the Vietnam War --, actors Susan Sarandon and Danny Glover, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, religious leaders, legislators, and veterans.

They wish to put pressure on Democratic lawmakers to demand the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. The Democratic leadership has ruled out cutting funds for the war, fearful of aggravating further the dangers that soldiers on the ground face, and at present only one or several nonbinding resolutions denouncing the new strategy announced by President Bush have any prospect of being passed in the Senate the week after next.

--
Translated by Mark K. Jensen
Associate Professor of French
Department of Languages and Literatures
Pacific Lutheran University
Tacoma, WA 98447-0003
Phone: 253-535-7219
Home page: http://www.plu.edu/~jensenmk/
E-mail: jensenmk@plu.edu

Surrounded by actors and famous directors, the American actress Jane Fonda spoke Saturday at her first antiwar demonstration in 34 years, which brought together several tens of thousands in Washington.

On Saturday in Washington the American antiwar movement organized a large demonstration to push Congress to vote to end the war in Iraq, with the support of a handful of Hollywood stars on the left, like Jane Fonda and Sean Penn. "Escalation in Iraq? Wrong way," proclaimed several banners, while thousands of demonstrators chanted the slogan "Bring the troops home now!"

"I haven't spoken at an antiwar rally for 34 years, because I was afraid that, because of the lies spread about me (and the Vietnam War), I might be used to do damage to this new antiwar movement -- but silence is no longer an option," said Jane Fonda, 69, dubbed "Hanoi Jane" thirty years ago because she sat behind a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun in July 1972.

Several tens of thousands of the first demonstrators to arrive gathered on the great mall at the foot of the Capitol to chant slogans that for once were less addressed to President George W. Bush, "who could really care less about what Americans think," than to Congress, "which has the power to put an end to this war," said a spokesperson of the group, Hany Khalil, on the eve of the demonstration. For Len Singer, 74, who came 180 miles from Portsmouth, Virginia, to Washington, what mattered was demonstrating from the start of the new Democratic majority, elected in November after a campaign mostly dominated by the Iraq war.

"If the Democrats blow this opportunity, they'll never grasp the opportunity to cut funding for the war, or impeach Vice President Dick Cheney and President George W. Bush," he said.

The demonstration, on a cold, sunny day, seems on its way to becoming the most successful since the last bit antiwar demonstration in September 2005. On that occasion the United for Peace and Justice" coalition brought together between 100,000 and 300,000 people to Washington.

** Tens of thousands of demonstrators -- and stars -- marched on Washington to pressure on the Democratic Congress to vote to withdraw troops from Iraq **

[PHOTO CAPTION: Jane Fonda and Susan Sarandon during Saturday's demonstration.]

Antiwar forces are still active in the United States. There were several tens thousands of them in Washington on Saturday for a big demonstration to push Congress to vote to end the war in Iraq, with the support of a handful of left-wing Hollywood stars like Jane Fonda and Sean Penn.

The demonstrators gathered on the great mall at the foot of the Capitol to chant slogans that for once were less addressed to President George W. Bush, "who could really care less about what Americans think," than to Congress, "which has the power to put an end to this war," said a spokesperson of the group, Hany Khalil, on the eve of the demonstration.

"Escalation in Iraq? No way," proclaimed several banners, while demonstrators chanted the slogan "Bring the troops home now!"

The demonstrators, who planned to continue the demonstration Monday with a telephone campaign, are trying to gather signatures for a petition calling for Congress to “vote for the immediate withdrawal of American forces in Iraq” and “vote against any sum of money for any military action in Iraq except the secure withdrawal of all our soldiers.”

This demonstration came as the Senate considers one or several nonbinding resolutions coming up in the next two weeks denouncing the new strategy announced by President Bush on Jan. 10 that includes the deployment of 21,500 additional soldiers.

“We have come to say (to political officials) that if they don’t get their act together, and if they don’t vote for a resolution as forceful as the human toll (of the war), we’re not going to support them any more!” said Sean Penn.

The Democratic leadership, however, has ruled out cutting funding for the war, for fear that they will aggravate the dangers facec by some 140,000 soldiers now on the ground.

On the other hand, several candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination have announced initiatives to force the administration to cap the number of soldiers in Iraq at the level of the beginning of the war, requiring the explicit authorization of Congress for any additional deployment.