Weekend anti-war demonstrations continue

updated 7:35 p.m. ET March 18, 2007

NEW YORK - Denouncing a conflict entering its fifth year, thousands of protesters marched against the Iraq war on Sunday in New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco.

Protesters calling for the end of funding for the war or the immediate return of U.S. troops converged on a park near the United Nations headquarters in new York.

Union members, representatives of Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow-PUSH Coalition, war veterans and others joined the demonstration, one of several staged during the weekend across the country to mark the fourth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

The crowd of a few hundred protesters grew as the procession, which stretched for several blocks, moved on.

Actor Tim Robbins, among the speakers at the rally, organized by the New York chapter of United for Peace and Justice, told the crowd that getting Congress to cut off funds for the war “would be a good way” to get the troops home.

“The American people want this war to end,” Robbins said. “That’s the message they sent last November in the election. When are we going to start listening to them?”

Errors at Walter Reed cited
Robbins, a frequent war protest participant with his partner, actress Susan Sarandon, also referred to the recent revelations of substandard care and facilities at the military’s Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington.

“You want to support the troops? First get them home, then take care of them,” he said.

Police lined sidewalks, and some walked ahead of the protesters as they marched toward the offices of Sens. Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Demonstrators carried signs reading “Impeach Bush,” and “Not one more dollar, not one more death.”

No counter-demonstrators were visibly present.

San Francisco: Rally on Market Street
In San Francisco, thousands of people packed several downtown blocks in what appeared to be the largest of several nationwide rallies staged Sunday.

The bustling, boisterous Market Street was closed to car traffic from the Ferry Building to the Civic Center, and police are lining the route.

Protesters were peaceful, mostly waving anti-war signs and listening to speeches under bright sunshine. A lot of people appeared to be part of multigenerational families, and represented cities and towns around northern and central California.

A small group of protesters had plans to continue marching to the Pacific Heights home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the target of anti-war protesters who have said she's failing to represent her constituents' views on the Iraq war.

Shahrzad Elghanayan / AP A demonstrator holds a sign during an anti-war protest in New York on Sunday. It was one of several staged during the weekend across the country to mark the fourth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Last Monday, activists confronted Pelosi at her home as she hurried to a waiting vehicle — one of numerous so-called occupations that activists have staged in lawmakers' home communities and offices in recent weeks.

President Bush was at Camp David in Maryland for the weekend. Spokesman Blair Jones said of the protests: “Our Constitution guarantees the right to peacefully express one’s views. The men and women in our military are fighting to bring the people of Iraq the same rights and freedoms.”

Police offered no crowd estimate in New York, but it appeared to be well over 1,000 people and possibly up to 2,000.

Trish Gorman, who rode a bus with 55 other people from Bennington, Vt., to take part in the protest, said: “The people have to speak. The government is not listening to the people. Sitting quietly at home is not doing it.”

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She said she supported a “safe and well-thought-out defunding and withdrawal” from Iraq.

Michelle Barish said she had sent a gas mask to her brother, a soldier soon to be deployed to Iraq, but was concerned that cutting funds was not the right way to bring the war to an end.

“If they cut off funding, does that mean I’m going to have to send a bulletproof vest and care packages?” she asked.

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