Organized by United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ), an estimated 150,000 people descended upon Washington, DC on January 27th, 2007 to voice their discontent with the Iraq War and the President's plan for a "troop surge" there. The focus of this event was directed not at the White House, but towards Capitol Hill, where the 2007 session of Congress finds a new Democratic majority in both houses.

A splinter group took off from the main rally to take their message directly to the Capitol building. After some fits and starts, the Capitol Police ultimately allowed protesters onto the lower terrace, but drew the line there.

There were many notable speakers at the rally including Rev. Jesse Jackson, active-duty Navy Seaman Jonathon Hutto (& co-organizer of "Appeal for Redress"), Bob Watada (father of Lt. Ehren Watada, first officer to refuse deployment to Iraq), Congresswomen Maxine Waters and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) and Ann Wright (retired Army Colonel and former State Department diplomat).

The march left the northeast corner of the Mall and headed up Constitution Avenue. Initially, organizers of the march were told that they would not be able to encircle the Capitol building but would, instead, have to conduct a "U" turn halfway around the Capitol building and double back on itself. Reports however indicate that once the front of the march reached the parked buses blocking further progress, Maxine Waters demanded that the buses be removed and the march allowed to proceed onward to Independence Avenue and then back to the Mall.

The crowd was large enough, that the front of the march nearly caught up with people at the Mall still waiting to file onto Constitution Avenue. An impromptu "sit-in" of about 100+ people materialized within Independence Avenue near the end of the march. But it took no time before the Park Police helicopter was circling overhead attempting to assess the situation.

The Virginia Antiwar Network (VAWN) helped to organize several buses from Richmond and Tidewater, along with vans and carpools from several other regions of the state. VAWN made a point to stand in solidarity with CASMII (Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran) to bring attention to this Administration's orchestration towards expanding the military conflict in the Middle East to that country.

Garrie Rouse