Considering the Bush administration and the GOP is trying to "take away" the Iraq war as a major issue in this election with their phony withdrawal plans, I think this is a great initiative.
United For Peace and Justice Helps Organize Million Doors for Peace
25,000 Volunteers to Contact One Million People in One Day Event Will Be the Year's Largest Antiwar Action
New York, NY - United for Peace and Justice, the nation's largest grassroots anti-war coalition, has joined forces with other major organizations to organize what promises to be this year's largest anti-war mobilization. Million Doors for Peace, scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 20, will ask at least one million people throughout the country to sign petitions urging the next Congress to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq within one year.
The action combines the best of grassroots activism and support from the netroots. The campaign will allow tens of thousands of volunteers to download a neighborhood "walk list" from a website designed specifically for this project. The volunteers will use this public information to talk to and identify neighbors who oppose the Iraq war and will invite them to join the efforts to end the war. The Million Doors for Peace website, www.MillionDoorsForPeace.org, was launched this week.
As a neighborhood-based mobilization, organizers said Million Doors for Peace is unique in the history of anti-war movements. Instead of bringing tens of thousands of people together for one visible protest, participants will be organizing on the ground across the U.S., with an eye toward one-on-one public education and influencing members of Congress.
Leslie Cagan, National Coordinator of United for Peace and Justice, said, "The antiwar sentiment throughout the country has never been stronger. To help bring greater visibility to the depth of opposition to the war in Iraq, on Sept. 20th the Million Doors for Peace project will put thousands of people out on the streets in communities in all 50 states. This massive national mobilization will send a clear message: it is time to bring all the troops home!"
"This will be the largest anti-war mobilization effort of 2008," said Tom Swan of USAction and director of Iraq Campaign 2008. "But instead of coming together in one place, such as the National Mall, we are going to go talk to people where they live. When the next Congress is seated early next year, we want one million people to remind them that Americans strongly oppose this war and it's time to responsibly end it."
The coalition organizing Million Doors for Peace includes: Catholics United, Cities for Peace, CodePink, MoveOn.org, Pax Christi USA, Peace Action, Progressive Accountability, Progressive Democrats of America, United for Peace and Justice, USAction & TrueMajority.org, Voters for Peace and Win Without War.
Combined, the coalition boasts a membership in the millions and hundreds of state and local affiliates. The overarching goal of recruiting more than one million war opponents is to broaden and expand the nation's antiwar constituency so that when the next Congress convenes it will not be able to ignore the call for immediate action to end the war in Iraq.
"Million Doors for Peace takes the anti-war movement in a new direction," Swan said. "Each year during the Iraq war, we have seen large antiwar demonstrations in Washington and around the country. This year the tactics and strategy are different. Instead of gathering in one place, we will be in every state in the country. We will meet people on their front door steps in order to expand the antiwar constituency in this country and remind our leaders of America's antiwar sentiment. The cost of this war has been too great."
"When Congress returns next year, members will have to answer to constituents determined to bring an end to this seemingly endless war," Cagan concluded. "Too many people have died, and precious resources have been squandered while the needs of our communities continue to go unmet."
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