Jane Fonda's Speech to the United for Peace and Justice Anti-War Rally in Washington, D.C. on January 27, 2007

I’m really here because I want to thank you all -- I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for being here today.

So many of you, so many of today’s speakers including my fellow actors up here, were here at the very beginning, before we went into Iraq, because you knew, and they knew what was in store. Thank you so much for the courage to stand up before this mean-spirited, vengeful administration.

Your actions are proof that the most precious part of this country, its soul, is alive and well, so thank you. Your ongoing commitment to ending this war allows people in other parts of the world to remain hopeful that America has the stuff to become again a country that they can love and respect. Thank you.

I especially want to thank and acknowledge the servicemen and women, and the military families and gold star mothers that are here.

A lot of press people have been asking me today, “What’s the difference between now and during the Vietnam War?” And I’ll tell you one huge, crucial difference – it took six years for Vietnam veterans, active-duty servicemen, gold star mothers, and military families to come out against the war. It has happened now within three years of the war. Their presence here is critical, and we should acknowledge their courage.

I haven’t spoken at an anti-war rally in 34 years, because I’ve been afraid that because of the lies that have been and continue to be spread about me and that war, that they would be used to hurt this new anti-war movement. But silence is no longer an option.

My daughter, who is here with me today, (to daughter) come here, she was a little girl when she would come with me to the anti-Vietnam War protests. She’s here today with her two little children, my grandchildren. 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. That we’ve made the same mistakes – blindness to the realities on the ground, hubris and arrogance in dealing with a people and culture far older than we are, and that we understand so little. Carelessness and thoughtlessness in our approach to rebuilding a country we’ve destroyed. Allowing billions of dollars to be stolen – squandered at the hands of private contractors, just as this administration has done in our own gulf, in the post-Katrina era.

So thank you. Thank you for being here, and we will continue to be here for as long as necessary. God bless.

(Transcribed from the YouTube record of the event.)