Anti-War Protest on Both Coasts

To chants of "Impeach Bush," thousands of anti-war protesters rallied in the nation's capital Saturday and delivered a scathing critique of President Bush and his Iraq policy.
Demanding an end to the U.S.-led occupation and the quick return of American troops, the demonstrators gathered on a sunny fall day at the Washington Monument to listen to speeches and songs of peace.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who's running for the Democratic presidential nomination, exhorted the crowd not to be content with the gradual withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq.



"Don't give bush $87 billion, don't give him 87 cents, give our troops a ride home," Sharpton said to loud cheers from the crowd.

The protest drew a diverse crowd young, old, veterans, relatives with loved ones in the armed forces and American Muslims. They waved signs reading "Make Jobs Not War" and "Bush is a liar" as they marched in a giant circle toward the White House, on to the Justice Department and then back to the Washington Monument.

The Secret Service placed obstacles to keep the protesters from marching directly in front of the White House along Pennsylvania Avenue. Bush was spending the weekend at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland.

Michael McPhearson, a veteran from the 1991 Persian Gulf War, denounced the president, saying he had misled the nation. "You have butchered the truth, George Bush."

Organizers expected more than 30,000 would turn out for the protest, but the crowd which filled the area between the monument and the Ellipse near the White House appeared much smaller.

Because the U.S. Park Police no longer issues crowd estimates, the size of the crowd could not be verified.

International ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) and United for Peace and Justice, which organized the protest, also planned a mass demonstration in San Francisco for later in the day.

Some demonstrators at the Washington rally acknowledged that the crowd was lighter than previous protests during and before the war.

"Now, I think it's more regroup, rethink," said Army veteran Tom Palumbo of Norfolk, Va.

At one point during the afternoon, a shouting match erupted between an anti-war crowd and counterdemonstrators holding "Trust Jesus" signs. Police moved in on horses to separate the two sides. No arrests were made.

Before the rally, about 200 protesters played songs, listened to drummers and rallied for peace in a park about 20 blocks north of the White House. The crowd at the Black Voices for Peace rally then marched down past the White House to join the larger demonstration at the Washington Monument.

The D.C. chapter of Free Republic, an independent grass-roots conservative group, gathered dozens of people at the U.S. Capitol to show support for Bush and the troops in Iraq.

"Whether or not the war should have started is a moot point," said Eric Campbell, a 32-year-old who served in the 1991 Persian Gulf War. "We have to stay if anything for the Iraqi people."


Associated Press writers Jesse J. Holland and Elizabeth Wolfe in Washington and Mielikki Org in San Francisco contributed to this report.

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