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For Immediate Release
March, 19 2010, 11:51am EDT
Contact:
Medea
Benjamin, CODEPINK Cofounder, 415 235-6517 (available for interviews)
Dana Balicki, Campaign Manager, 202 422-8624
Rae Abileah, CODEPINK Local Groups Coordinator, 415-994-1723
Women Mark Iraq War's Seventh Anniversary with Vibrant Visuals & Community Event
Joining a Nation-Wide Call to Repair the War-Torn Economy & Redirect Our Resources to Education & Healthcare
WASHINGTON
On
the anniversary of seven years of war in Iraq, CODEPINK women in
Washington, D.C. and across America will honor this tragic anniversary
with a march in the nation's capitol and a special "Women Say No To War:
Building Peace in War Zones Around the World" event with award-winning
author of the Vagina Monologues Eve Ensler, award-winning journalist Amy
Goodman, Immigration activist Pramila Jayapal, Congresswoman Donna
Edwards and more at Busboys & Poets, owned by Iraqi-American, DC
entrepreneur Andy Shallal. CODEPINK women will join the many
demonstrations occurring across the country, connecting the failing U.S.
economy with continued military spending and the largest Pentagon
budget in history.
WHAT: CODEPINK Women for Peace march on the 7th anniversary of
the Iraq War followed by an evening celebrating women peacemakers Eve
Ensler, Amy Goodman and more. The march in DC is in conjunction with
events nationwide organized around the 7th anniversary of the Iraq
invasion, additionally calling for an end to the occupation of
Afghanistan.
WHEN: March 20, march starts 12pm and "Women Say No To War:
Building Peace in War Zones Around the World" event starts at 7pm (event
is free and open to the community)
WHERE: March & Rally--CODEPINK to gather at St. Johns Church
on H & 16th Sts NW, Evening
Event--Busboys & Poets 1025 5th NW (@ K St NW)
"As the hope of a new administration leading us towards peace has faded,
it is clear that only way we will bring our troops home is to organize
the silent majority opposed to the needless wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan", states Medea Benjamin cofounder of Global Exchange and
CODEPINK. "On the 7th anniversary of the Iraq war, we are determined to
bring the voices of Main Street to the halls of power to say: Stop
funding the warfare state and redirect our resources to life-affirming
activities".
March 20th marks six years of war in Iraq, over 8 years of war in
Afghanistan, thousands of troops dead, between 100,000 and 1million
Iraqi and Afghan civilians dead. At home Americans are suffering from
joblessness while being asked by the Obama Administration to endure a
domestic spending freeze and the largest Pentagon spending budget to
date. With these anniversary actions, communities are demanding an end
to a war-torn economy and a refocus on our economic and social
priorities here at home.
From Daytona Beach, FL to Troy, MI, cities across the country activists
and concerned citizens will rally and march on Saturday, March 20, in
opposition to the ongoing occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan and
calling for soldiers and desperately needed funds to return to the US.
Mass marches are planned in DC, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and
Chicago. For a full listing of actions please see www.codepinkalert.org/calendar
and https://pjep.org/announcements/?id=961.
Founded in the lead up to the Iraq War in 2003, CODEPINK Women for Peace
has become a vibrant, creative voice in the peace movement, an outlet
especially for women in the United States and worldwide.
CODEPINK Cofounders Medea Benjamin and Jodie Evans are available for
interview/comment. Please contact Dana Balicki for more info--(202)
422-8624, Dana@codepinkalert.org
CODEPINK is a women-led grassroots organization working to end U.S. wars and militarism, support peace and human rights initiatives, and redirect our tax dollars into healthcare, education, green jobs and other life-affirming programs.
(818) 275-7232LATEST NEWS
Aid Group Warns US-Israeli War on Iran Has Unleashed ‘Triple Emergency’ With Devastating Consequences for Millions
“With global humanitarian needs already at record levels, further escalation of the conflict in the Middle East and wider region will have grave ramifications for crises across the world,” said one advocate.
Mar 20, 2026
The US-Israeli war against Iran has unleashed a "triple emergency" that is draining the global humanitarian aid system of resources and putting millions of the world's most vulnerable people at even greater risk, according to a dire warning issued Friday by the International Rescue Committee.
The war has already resulted in the deaths of thousands and the displacement of millions of people in Iran and Lebanon. But the IRC says that the ripple effects of the war are beginning to spread to conflict zones across the world.
The conflict has caused many nations in the region to partially or fully close their airspace, leaving critical cargo stranded.
Meanwhile, Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for US and Israeli attacks has disrupted the flow of more than 20% of the world’s oil exports, sharply raising transport costs and straining budgets that could go toward lifesaving aid.
“Medical aid is highly dependent on international transport,” said Willem Zuidema, Save the Children’s global supply chain director. “The blockage in the Strait of Hormuz, combined with spiking cost for insurance and fuel, is directly impacting patients in our health facilities, at the worst time possible.”
IRC said $130,000 worth of pharmaceutical aid intended for its humanitarian response to the conflict in Sudan has been left stranded in Dubai due to the strait's closure.
According to Save the Children, this delay has put 90 primary healthcare facilities across Sudan at risk of running low on supplies.
More than 400,000 children, the group estimated, could be affected by the inability to receive antibiotics, antimalarial drugs, pain and fever medications, and other treatments.
The group said it has been forced to deliver the aid using the much more costly method of transporting it across Jeddah, where it will be carried by sea freight to Sudan, which the group said could add as much as $1,000-2,000 per container.
The same is true of humanitarian zones in Afghanistan and Yemen, where treatments for thousands of children must now be delivered by air or by land, dramatically raising the costs.
The closure of the strait has also forced many vessels carrying aid to find alternative routes. IRC said its shipping partners have been forced to reroute their operations to instead travel around Africa's Cape of Good Hope, adding up to a month for ocean freight deliveries to war zones on the continent.
"What we are seeing is the war in Iran unleashing a triple emergency," said David Milliband, the president and CEO of IRC.
"First, a surge in humanitarian need, with Lebanon now the most visible humanitarian scar and one of the fastest-growing displacement crises in the world, with over one million people forced from their homes in weeks," he said.
"Second, a global economic shock, as disruptions to food, fuel, and fertilizer markets, putting up to 30% of fertilizer trade at risk, threatens more than 300 million people already facing acute food insecurity," said Milliband, and "third, a system under strain, with more than 60 conflicts stretching diplomatic attention and funding to a breaking point, pushing crises like Sudan and Gaza further down the list of priorities."
Milliband marveled at the priorities of the powers prosecuting the war. He pointed to a recent estimate from the Pentagon that the first six days of the war alone cost $11.3 billion, noting that "just $4 billion is enough to pay for treatment for every acutely malnourished child in the world."
Zuidema said that the "grave ripple effects" caused by the war are exacerbated by the fact that "governments are cutting vital foreign aid budgets."
He called on all parties to the war to cease hostilities and to adhere to their obligations under international law, including allowing the free flow of humanitarian aid.
“There should be no barriers to lifesaving supplies: Exemptions should be put in place to allow humanitarian supplies, fertilizer, and food to be able to move through the Strait of Hormuz,” Zuidema said. “With global humanitarian needs already at record levels, further escalation of the conflict in the Middle East and wider region will have grave ramifications for crises across the world.”
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Estefany Rodríguez's detention "has had a chilling effect, undermining journalists’ ability, especially local reporters, to cover their communities without fear of retaliation," according to one advocate.
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Immigrant rights and press freedom groups were celebrating Friday after Nashville journalist Estefany Rodríguez was released from a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Louisiana, two weeks after she was detained—but advocates said they would continue challenging the violation of Rodríguez's rights and demanded the Trump administration end its targeting of journalists amid its anti-immigration crackdown.
Rodríguez was freed on a $10,000 bond, more than two weeks after the Nashville Noticias reporter was detained outside a gym while traveling in her marked press vehicle.
As Common Dreams reported, press freedom advocates expressed concern that Rodríguez was detained in retaliation for her reporting on ICE's mass detention and deportation operation under President Donald Trump.
An ICE officer told her lawyer after her arrest that Rodríguez had been labeled a "flight risk" because she "missed" two meetings at the local ICE office—although the agency had previously informed her lawyer and her husband that she didn't need to go to the meetings.
Nora Benavidez, senior counsel of the media rights group Free Press, said the group welcomed the news of Rodríguez's release but emphasized that "while this is a victory for Rodríguez, her free speech rights, and the communities she reports for, the fight is not over."
"We remain troubled by the federal government’s ongoing campaign to silence and deport reporters who cover the administration’s gross mistreatment of immigrants," said Benavidez. "We will continue to fight for Rodríguez and her right to report free from retaliation while we challenge the federal government’s relentless assaults on the First Amendment across this country.”
"Press freedom is not theoretical—it is tested in moments like this. Safeguarding it means removing unnecessary barriers and ensuring that journalists, especially those serving vulnerable communities, can report freely and without fear."
Rodríguez was arrested weeks after journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort were arrested for reporting on an anti-ICE protest at a church in Minneapolis. Emmy-winning journalist Mario Guevara was arrested last June after reporting on a No Kings protest against Trump in Atlanta; he was detained for more than 100 days before being deported to El Salvador.
Rodríguez arrived in the US lawfully in 2021 from her native Colombia, where she faced threats due to her reporting work. She applied for asylum before her visa expired.
Nashville Banner reported that Rodríguez was granted the bond by a judge on Monday, but a mandatory stay allowed ICE attorneys the opportunity to appeal the decision, which they ultimately did not. Then it took a day for Rodríguez's family to post the bond through an electronic system on Wednesday, which required approval since they were first-time users.
The bureaucratic delays added to the ordeal Rodríguez faced during her detention, during which she was not able to contact her attorneys until March 14. She first spent a week in a county jail in Alabama where guards placed her in isolation for five days, claiming she had contracted lice. According to Nashville Banner, before she was transferred to the center in Louisiana, the guards "took her to the shower, made her strip naked, and poured cleaning liquid over her head." The substance made Rodríguez's eyes burn, and the outlet reported that "she believed the liquid was also used to clean floors."
Following her release, Rodríguez's legal case is ongoing. Her lawyers filed an emergency petition for a writ of habeas corpus in federal court. Government lawyers are now arguing the case is moot because Rodríguez has been released, but her attorneys are seeking an evidentiary hearing to obtain an injunction against her potential redetenion.
"We plan to proceed with the habeas petition that was filed on March 4, challenging both her warrantless arrest and retaliation for her exercise of First Amendment rights," said Mike Holley, an attorney with the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition. "Through that petition, we are seeking not only her complete release, but an order prohibiting ICE from mistreating her in a similar way in the future.”
In the petition, Rodríguez's legal team argued her detention has violated her First, Fourth, and Fifth amendment rights and asserted that she was detained in relation to her coverage of ICE operations.
Jose Zamora, regional director of the Americas for the Committee to Protect Journalists, said Rodríguez's detention "has had a chilling effect, undermining journalists’ ability, especially local reporters, to cover their communities without fear of retaliation."
“The government must uphold press freedom and ensure all journalists can work safely and without reprisal," said Zamora.
Mark Schoeff Jr., president of the National Press Club, said that Rodríguez's case "should never have reached this point."
"We urge authorities to drop any further action against Ms. Rodríguez and allow her to continue her work without interference. She is a community-focused journalist whose reporting serves the public interest, and she must be able to work openly and cooperatively as she seeks to resolve her legal status in the United States," said Schoeff. "A free press depends on the ability of journalists to report without fear of detention or retaliation. Reporters cannot do their jobs if they fear detention for doing their jobs."
"Press freedom is not theoretical—it is tested in moments like this," he added. "Safeguarding it means removing unnecessary barriers and ensuring that journalists, especially those serving vulnerable communities, can report freely and without fear."
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“This lawless killing for content cannot become mere background noise," said one critic.
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The Trump administration isn't letting its unconstitutional war with Iran stop its illegal boat-bombing campaign in Latin America.
US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said on Friday that it had conducted yet another lethal boat strike on a suspected drug boat traveling in what it described as "known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific."
While SOUTHCOM initially said that three men survived the Thursday strike, a spokesperson for the US Coast Guard subsequently told CNN reporter Zachary Cohen that two of the men on the boat were killed, while a lone survivor was rescued and taken into custody by authorities in Costa Rica.
According to Cohen, at least 160 people have so far been killed by the Trump administration's boat strikes, which several legal experts have described as illegal acts of murder.
The latest strike on a suspected drug vessel came on the same day Gen. Francis L. Donovan, the commander of SOUTHCOM, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Trump administration's boat-bombing spree is "not the answer" to the drug addiction crisis in the US.
As reported by The New York Times on Thursday, Donovan told lawmakers that the strikes are "probably not the most effective" tool to combat illicit drug trafficking, and said he was developing a more comprehensive plan to stop the flow of drugs into the US.
Human rights group Amnesty International slammed Donovan for carrying out another strike even while acknowledging their negligible impact on the drug trade.
"Congress must take action against these strikes!" the group said in a social media post.
Brian Finucane, senior adviser at the International Crisis Group, expressed concern that the Trump administration's Iran war was distracting from the other illegal killing it is carrying out.
"This lawless killing for content cannot become mere background noise," he wrote.
A coalition of rights organizations led by the ACLU last year sued the Trump administration to demand it release documents that provide legal justification for its boat-bombing campaign.
The groups said that the Trump administration’s rationales for the strikes deserve special scrutiny because their justification hinges on claims that the US is in an “armed conflict” with international drug cartels akin to past conflicts between the US government and terrorist organizations such as al-Qaeda.
The groups argued there is simply no way that drug cartels can be classified under the same umbrella as terrorist organizations, given that the law regarding war with nonstate actors says that any organizations considered to be in armed conflict with the US must be an “organized armed group” that is structured like a conventional military and engaged in “protracted armed violence” with the US government.
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