The third anniversary of the U.S.-led war in Iraq drew tens of
thousands of protesters around the globe, from hurricane-ravaged
Louisiana to Australia, with chants of "Stop the War" and calls for the
withdrawal of troops.
More than 7,000 people marched through Chicago
on Saturday in one of the largest U.S. protests, saying the war diverts
money from domestic needs and demanding the U.S. pull out of Iraq. One
sign read "Bush is a category 5 disaster."
"I'm against this war, I'm against the torture," said protester Martha Conrad, 54. "We're doing this for the people of Iraq."
Protesters also gathered in Boston, San
Francisco and Pittsburgh, and more than 1,000 packed into New York's
Times Square on Saturday chanting: "Stop the U.S. war machine, from
Iraq to Korea to the Philippines."
About 200 war veterans, hurricane survivors and
demonstrators gathered Sunday at the Chalmette National Cemetery to
protest how the military conflict overseas had hurt the country's
ability to help the Gulf Coast recover from last year's hurricanes.
"We attacked a country who never did anything to
us," said Philadelphia resident Al Zappala, whose 30-year-old son was
killed in Iraq in April 2004.
