Vietnam War protest icon Jane Fonda took the stage in her first anti-war demonstration in decades as tens of thousands massed to demand that Congress cut off funds for the Iraq war. "I haven't spoken at an anti-war rally for 34 years," said Fonda, whose visit to Hanoi in 1972 outraged many pro-Vietnam War Americans and damaged her reputation as an actress.
"But silence is no longer an option," she said to cheering protesters.
The huge crowd rallied at the foot of the US Capitol, home of the US legislature, chanting, "Bring the troops home now" and waving banners that declared "Escalation in Iraq? Wrong Way."
The protest came ahead of an expected vote in the US Senate in early February on a non-binding resolution condemning the new Iraq strategy of US President George W. Bush, which deploys 21,500 additional troops to violence-wracked Iraq in a bid to restore security in Baghdad and elsewhere.
The protesters said they would demand a binding resolution to cut off funds for the war.
"Our fellow Americans are dying as we stand here today," said actor Sean Penn. "We're going to push this until this resolution is binding, the money stops and the troops come home."
The crowd heard addresses from more than a dozen veterans, anti-war activists, religious leaders, Hollywood stars and political leaders like the Reverend Jesse Jackson.
"Keep hope alive. No more death. Keep hope alive. No more money. Keep hope alive. Bring the troops home," chanted Jackson, an African-American civil rights statesman.
Len Singer, 74, who traveled 300 kilometers (180 miles) to join the demonstration, called the timing of the protest, just weeks after opposition Democrats took control of Congress, a "window of opportunity" to force the Republican US administration's hand.
"If the Democrats squander this time period, they'll never have another chance again," he said.
Medea Benjamin, founder of the women's peace organization CodePink, said the non-binding resolution passed by a powerful Senate committee Wednesday was not enough for the protesters.
The resolution says the Bush plan is "not in the national interest" and calls on the United States to "transfer, under an appropriately expedited timeline, responsibility for internal security and halting sectarian violence in Iraq to the government of Iraq and Iraqi security forces."
"It's good, but it's not enough," Benjamin said.
Several legislators have introduced or proposed binding legislation to cap the number of US troops in Iraq or to cut funds to force an exit, but prospects for any to be passed by the Senate are considered low when they come up for debate next month.
On Saturday a Newsweek poll suggested Americans feel Congress is not adequately aggressive in challenging Bush on Iraq policy.
The poll said 64 percent believed the legislature has not been assertive enough over Iraq, while 27 percent felt it was doing enough.
Fonda, who led a roster of Hollywood stars at the protest, including Penn, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins, branded the Bush government a "mean-spirited, vengeful administration."
She said her daughter and two granddaughters were with her at the protest.
"I'm very proud that they're here, but I'm so sad that we still have to do this, that we did not learn the lessons from the Vietnam War," Fonda said.
