Jan. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Anti-war protesters from across the nation including Jane Fonda rallied in the shadow of the Capitol building in Washington today to demand that Congress block President George W. Bush's new plan to send more troops to Iraq and take steps to withdraw those already there.

The demonstration, the first national peace rally since voters gave Democrats a majority in the U.S. Congress in the November elections, drew tens of thousands of people. Among them were activists such as Jesse Jackson, politicians such as Representative Maxine Waters, a California Democrat, active-duty soldiers and families with children serving in Iraq.

Speakers looking out on the crush of people, many holding aloft signs calling for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq and some waving American flags, said the event was proof the nation had lost confidence in Republican Bush's policies.

``I haven't spoken at an anti-war rally in 34 years because of lies about me that were used to hurt the anti-war movement,'' Academy Award-winning actress and fitness guru Fonda told the cheering crowd. Fonda was referring to the criticism that dogged her for decades for speaking against the Vietnam War from Hanoi in 1972 and being photographed seated at a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun.

`Vengeful Administration'

``But silence is no longer an option,'' Fonda said. ``Thank you so much for the courage to stand up to this mean-spirited and vengeful administration.''

Weakened by the unpopularity of the Iraq conflict, Bush's approval rating is at an all-time low of 30 percent in a Newsweek poll conducted after his State of the Union speech this week in which he defended his war strategy.

Demonstrators who gathered on the Mall in the sunny yet chilly weather responded to the two-hour parade of speakers with enthusiastic attention and chants.

They cheered on Bob Watada, the father of 28-year-old Army Lieutenant Ehren Watada, when he told them how his son joined out of patriotism in 2003 and refused to be deployed to Iraq in 2006 because he had lost faith in Bush and the war. Ehren Watada now faces six years imprisonment for conduct unbecoming an officer and another charge.

`Betrayed'

``He wanted to help fight terrorism and then he saw that Bush had lied about what was really happening in Iraq,'' Watada said in an interview a few minutes before addressing the rally. ``He felt betrayed by the President. Now he feels betrayed by the Army.''

Actress Susan Sarandon said the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks kept Americans from asking questions when Bush made the decision to invade Iraq.

``We should have asked more questions in the beginning. Something as huge as war, something as big as sending your kids off to kill, should have some kind of discussion,'' Sarandon told reporters at the rally. ``I think it was this whole campaign that said if you ask any questions you are somehow unpatriotic.''

The loss of trust in the Bush administration was echoed by active duty members of the military who attended the rally as part of Appeals for Redress, a group of about 1200 active duty servicemen and women who have signed a petition calling on Congress to bring the troops home from Iraq.

`Less Safe'

``I now know the policy in Iraq makes us less safe,'' said Iraqi war veteran and current reserves member Charles Anderson, 29. He retired from the military after nine years of service because of post-traumatic stress related to his service in Baghdad in 2003.

Other demonstraters and speakers said the country needs to face its own problems at home instead of fighting a losing and unpopular battle abroad.

``We need new priorities and new directions,'' civil rights leader Jesse Jackson said, his speech broken by loud cheers and applause. ``We do not need more troops in Iraq, we need more dollars at home.''

Bush faces strong opposition in Congress to his plan to send an additional 21,500 troops to join the 132,000 troops already there. The new speaker of the House, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, has said she does not think increasing the troop level in Iraq is a good idea, calling it an ``escalation of the war.''

Before the weekend she went to Iraq to see the situation for herself, telling Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki that it was time Iraqis took responsibility for their own security. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved on Jan. 24 a nonbinding resolution calling the Iraq buildup ``not in the national interest.''

Withdrawal Legislation

``You've got a lot of them who talk the good talk and say the right things on the floor, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating '' said Waters, who has introduced legislation to pull troops out of Iraq within a six-month period.

Organizers of the demonstration, a four-year-old national coalition called United for Peace and Justice, said that 500,000 people attended, though other estimates put the number closer to tens of thousands. The Associated Press reported that police, who no longer release crowd estimates, privately said the crowd was smaller than 100,000.

In one corner of the mall, 23-year-old Andrea Williams-Neal carefully lettered out ``Tell Bush No, Bring Our Heroes Home'' on a piece of cardboard adorned with photographs of a smiling young man in army fatigues holding a smiling little boy.

`That's our son, Devon, he's three years old,'' said Williams-Neal, whose boyfriend, Robert Gibson, was just deployed to Iraq for the second time two weeks ago serving in the military police.

``It's not fair our son has to grow up without a father,'' said Williams-Neal, looking down at the pictures of her family. She said her boyfriend agreed. When she told him of her plans to take the bus from Kentucky to join the rally, he was happy.

``His words were, 'thank you for supporting us and for trying to get us to come home,''' she said

To contact the reporter on this story: Aliza Marcus in Washington at amarcus8@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: January 27, 2007 18:12 EST