In the wake of President Obama's reelection, the feminist peace group CODEPINK offers a critical analysis of the president's first four years and lays out serious demands for his next four.  With its 10-year anniversary approaching, CODEPINK has been in the streets, in front of the White House, and the halls of Congress during both the Bush and Obama administrations, and the peace group will persist until the agenda of the global movement for peace and justice becomes a meaningful part of this nation's policies.

On the agenda of the people's peace platform is pushing for a more swift withdrawal from Afghanistan, reversing the dangerous drone attacks that have proliferated under Obama's first term, averting a war with Iran and upholding Palestinian rights. They will also push for significant cuts in wasteful Pentagon program that will free up many billions for critical domestic needs.

“If we sit around and wait for Obama to get us out of these wars, it will never happen because there is such a strong pro-war corporate lobby,” says CODEPINK cofounder Jodie Evans. “That's why CODEPINK will be out in front of the White House and Congress—with our pots and pans—starting next week.”

CODEPINK had been building a strong movement to protest Obama's egregious drone wars, including a recent delegation to Pakistan, a national speaking tour, and an international summit in DC. “The President has significantly ramped up covert drone attacks around the world, which has resulted in the spread of anti-Americanism and proved detrimental to our national security,” says Medea Benjamin, author of Drone Warfare. “We have plans to ramp up our protests and make a significant reversal in public opinion from pro- to anti-drone.” 

The overwhelming call for justice and peace throughout the world has never been more obvious; from Occupy Wall Street to Chile to Greece, people are standing up to demand an end to corrupt global politics that places profit over people. CODEPINK calls on President Obama to respect human rights and civil liberties by redirecting the billions of dollars in the bloated military budget into life-affirming activities instead, such as healthcare, education, infrastructure, green jobs and more.

“In this austerity age where people all over the country are becoming economically disenfranchised, we literally cannot afford such an enormously expensive military apparatus,” said Evans.  

On November 14th at 9:00 am, CODEPINK will return to the White House gates where the organization was born and hold a pots and pans casserole demonstration to “wake up” our newly elected officials to justice. During the demonstration there will be a press conference on the progressive peace and justice agenda featuring speakers from different ally groups. For a listing of CODEPINK actions responding to the election and celebrating the group's 10 year anniversary, please visit www.codepink.org/anniversary.


CODEPINK cofounders and campaigners are available for interviews.

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