As we begin the fifth year of the occupation of Iraq, it is clear that the President has staked his legacy on an unnecessary war that his administration has botched at every turn. By refusing to take responsibility for their failed policy in Iraq, the administration has effectively forced Congress to intervene to bring it to a responsible end.

Speaker Pelosi, Chairman Obey, Jim Clyburn and the Democratic leadership deserve credit for recognizing this and for doing something that the Republican Congress refused to do for the last four years, namely to confront the Bush administration over their failed policy in Iraq and to commit to bringing that policy to a responsible end. That is a very important step.

As someone who opposed this war from the beginning, I have voted against every single penny for this war and found myself today in the difficult position of having to choose between voting against funding for the war or for establishing timelines to end it.

While as a matter of conscience I cast my vote against the funding, I hope that this passage of this bill marks the beginning of the end of the Iraq war, but the real fight still lies ahead. Congress will continue to have to confront the issue of this war and occupation, and I am committed to continuing to push to fully fund the safe withdrawal of our troops from Iraq at the earliest practicable date and for timelines for withdrawal that are backed up by the appropriations power that the Constitution grants to Congress. (my emphasis)

Congress declares that it is the policy of the United States--

(1) to end the occupation of Iraq on the basis of the findings specified in section 101;

(2) to accelerate the training and equipping of the military and security forces of the Government of Iraq;

(3) to pursue security and stability in Iraq through diplomacy;

(4) to help preserve the territorial integrity of Iraq as a nation state;

(5) to take all appropriate measures to account for any missing members of the United States Armed Forces or United States citizens in Iraq; and

(6) to turn over all internal security activities and military operations in Iraq to the elected Government of Iraq not later than the end of the six-month period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.

To prohibit the use of funds to carry out any covert action for the purpose of causing regime change in Iran or to carry out any military action against Iran in the absence of an imminent threat, in accordance with international law and constitutional and statutory requirements for congressional authorization.

Neither Penn nor Rep. Barbara Lee, the Oakland Democrat who has opposed the war since before it began four years ago, offered much in the way of specifics for ending the conflict, and they were largely preaching to the choir. The enthusiastic and occasionally boisterous crowd of 800 or so crammed into the Grand Lake Theater wildly cheered as Penn excoriated President Bush.

"You and your smarmy pundits - and the smarmy pundits you have in your pocket - can take your war and shove it," Penn said. "Let's unite not only in stopping this war, but in holding this administration accountable."

Penn reiterated a point often made by opponents of the war when he said he supports the troops but opposes the war.

"Let's make this crystal clear: We do support our troops, but not the exploitation of them and their families," he said. "The money that's spent on this war would be better spent on building levees in New Orleans and health care in Africa and care for our veterans. Iraq is not our toilet. It's a country of human beings whose lives that were once oppressed by Saddam are now in 'Dante's Inferno.' "

"We can't afford to spend one more dime or lose one more American or Iraqi life on this illegal and unwinnable war," Lee told the crowd.

"The only thing this government needs is for the people to be silent and then they can do whatever they want," said Joan MacIntyre, a 74-year-old great-grandmother from Oakland.

MacIntyre, like many who attended Saturday's events, was no stranger to war protests. She has marched in numerous rallies since the Iraq war started in March 2003 and was arrested Monday during a San Francisco protest. It was her 41st arrest, she boasted proudly.

"At least I can hold my head up and say that I tried," she said.

"You have broken our country; you have broken our hearts. The needless blood on your hands ... is drowning the freedom, the security and the dream that America might have been, once healed up from Sept. 11, 2001," Penn said.

"But now we are encouraged to self-censor any words that might be perceived as inflammatory, if our belief is that we should stop this war today. We cower as you point your fingers telling us to support our troops — well, you and the smarmy pundits in your pocket — those who bathe in the moisture of your blood-soaked underwear can take that noise and shove it, because we will be snowed no more."

Penn, who lives in Marin County, told the audience, "Let's fight this president and put him in f—ing jail."

Another speaker at the Grand Lake was Daniel Ellsberg, a longtime Kensington resident, who won fame when, in 1971, he leaked a top secret study of the Vietnam War showing the missteps and deception of the American government. Ellsberg, whom Lee called to the podium from the audience, suggested the Democratic majority launch an investigation of Bush misconduct in the war leading to a motion for impeachment.

"Congress cannot let these two years ago pass without defining what Bush, (Vice President Dick) Cheney and others have done as high crimes and misdemeanors," Ellsberg said to a burst of applause from the highly partisan audience.

Alan Howe, 55, rode his bicycle to the demonstration to vent his frustration with his fellow evangelical Christians, including Bush, who have supported the war.

"He says he's a brother in faith, but I don't see how he's applying that," said Howe, a former Baptist pastor who is now a senior librarian at the Oakland Public Library.

But Howe wasn't always anti-war. He said he was a hawkish conservative on the Vietnam War until shortly after the secret U.S. invasion of Cambodia in 1970. He attended a similar rally in Santa Barbara, where he was a student at the Christian-oriented Westmont College. "I remember hearing an Episcopal priest speak and thinking, if half of what he's saying is true, I can't support the war."