Today's Anti-War Movement

NEW YORK – A number of groups have tried to make a name for themselves in the current anti-war movement:

International A.N.S.W.E.R. - A New York City-based coalition of groups and individuals asking people to vote in a referendum called VoteNoWar.org, which the group hopes will serve as a counter to the congressional resolution supporting military action in Iraq.

Not in Our Name Project - Launched in March 2002, this group includes intellectuals, civil rights activists, authors, actors and others. Some members include MIT linguist and political lecturer Noam Chomsky, feminist icon Gloria Steinem, novelist Russell Banks, actress Susan Sarandon and Palestinian writer and Columbia University professor Edward Said. Others include: Social activist Richard Aoki, who is connected to the Black Panthers; the National Lawyers Guild and the Commission on Racial Equality.

Common Cause - A non-profit, non-partisan lobbying organization promoting accountable government. It is supported by dues and contributions from over 200,000 members.

The Sept. 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows - A group of family members of those who died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

National Network to End the War Against Iraq - A nation-wide coalition of more than 140 organizations united to work for a common cause: "ending the illegal, unjust, and inhumane war being waged against the people of Iraq by member states of the United Nations, led by the United States." The group also launched Cities for Peace, a rapidly growing effort to get city councils and other civic bodies to pass resolutions against a war.

Voices in the Wilderness - A Chicago-based joint U.S.-British campaign to end economic sanctions against Iraq. Since March 1996, nearly 50 Voices delegations have traveled to Iraq in open violation of the sanctions. The group also opposes the development, storage and use by any country of weapons of mass destruction.

International Action Center - New York City peace-advocating group founded by former Attorney General Ramsey Clarke. The group depends heavily on donations.

Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation - The Virginia-based Islamic group has chapters throughout the United States and was launched in 1992. It is a charitable, religious, social, cultural, educational, and not-for-profit organization. The group has joined with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in opposing the war against Iraq.

National Council of Churches - Founded in 1950, the group includes 36 Protestant, Anglican and Orthodox member denominations that include more than 50 million people in 140,000 local congregations across the country. The group has led delegations of religious leaders to Iraq to witness the conditions the residents live in. They claim U.S. sanctions against the country has kept the Iraqi people in poverty.

Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities - A national public education campaign designed to increase Americans' knowledge of how their tax dollars are spent. The campaign currently has 500 business executives and retired military officers on its membership rolls. It espouses intolerance of wasting billions of dollars on nuclear weapons and missile defense programs.

TomPaine.com - An online public interest journal that tackles a myriad of topics from the war movement to Social Security to election reform. It's a project of The Florence Fund, a non-profit corporation based in Washington, D.C., and funded by foundations and individual donors.

MoveOn.org - A Web site founded in San Francisco in 1998 to lobby against the impeachment of President Clinton. It has organized an online signature campaign against the war, and in December spent more than $300,000 on newspaper ads urging President Bush to avoid war. The group has launched a $400,000 revival of the jarring 1964 "Daisy" television commercial from the Cold War era in 13 U.S. cities, claiming a war against Iraq could spark nuclear Armageddon.