Stand With Our Iraqi Sisters

CODEPINK Women for Peace

March 2, 2006

Dear CODEPINK Activist,

This week we have seen escalating brutality in Iraq claiming the lives of 1,300
people
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/27/AR2006022701128.html?nav=rss_email/components),
a poll exposing the desire of 72% of the U.S. soldiers to leave Iraq
(http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1075), and George Bush’s approval ratings
plunging (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/27/opinion/polls/main1350874.shtml)
to the lowest levels of his presidency. His lies have caused the deaths and
destruction of far too many lives. We must act now. We must join together across the
borders to end this madness.

Next week, in celebration of International Women's Day, a courageous group of Iraqi
women (http://www.womensaynotowar.org/article.php?id=803) will converge in
Washington DC to hold George Bush and Congress accountable for the chaos, the
killing, the violence that is engulfing their nation. They represent Shias, Sunnis
and Kurds, religious and secular women. They are united in their horror at the
killings, their outrage at the Bush administration and U.S. elected officials, and
their determination to stop the violence.

We owe it to them to stand with them in solidarity. You can do that by signing the
Urgent Call for Peace
(http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizations/codepink/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=185&t=WSNTW2.dwt),
circulating it
(http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizations/codepink/tellafriend.jsp?tell_a_friend_KEY=567&t=WSNTW.dwt),
and participating in an anti-war action on International Women's Day. Click here to
find an event in your community, (http://www.womensaynotowar.org/calendar.php). And
if you don't see one, pull something together--fast. It can be as simple as
downloading a copy of our Urgent Call for Peace, representing the signatures of tens
of thousands of women worldwide, and taking it to your Embassy or congressperson
(http://www.womensaynotowar.org/article.php?id=698).

One of our delegates told us that in Baghdad these days, there are dead bodies on
the streets and pools of blood on the sidewalks, that parents are keeping their
children locked inside their homes. Fear is everywhere.

As we say in our call, "This is not the world we want for ourselves or our children.
With fire in our bellies and love in our hearts, we women are rising up - across
borders - to unite and demand an end to the bloodshed and the destruction."

Join us,
Dana, Farida, Gael, Jodie, Medea, Nancy, Rae & Tiffany