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Anti-war protests march across US

"This is a war to establish US hegemony. This is a war to be able to consume everyone else's resources."

Susan Hay, a high-school teacher who marched on Sunday

The fourth anniversary of the Iraq war brought up to 15,000 people, organizers said, to an anti-war march through downtown Portland -- one of the largest of several such demonstrations across the US.

"This is a war to establish US hegemony," said high-school teacher Susan Hay, who marched on Sunday with her two children and husband. "This is a war to be able to consume everyone else's resources."

In largely peaceful demonstrations on Sunday, about 3,000 people closed a major downtown thoroughfare in San Francisco, California; in New York, more than 1,000 protesters converged in a park near the UN headquarters. Protests were also held on Saturday in California cities Los Angeles and San Diego; and in Hartford, Connecticut.

Scuffles

At the end of Portland's hour-long march, a small group broke off for a series of scuffles with police and a standoff that lasted into the evening. At least half a dozen protesters were detained and police used pepper spray at one point.

Some protesters said the police overreacted.

"They showed a huge amount of force," said Jake Fagan, 21, who said he had lost two friends in Iraq. "But we are just trying to march."

Organizers said there might have been as many as 15,000 people at the staging point for the march. Police did not give a crowd estimate.

Dozens of police in San Francisco, on foot and motorcycles, blocked traffic and kept an eye on the crowd, which stretched for blocks through the financial district.

"I think the war effort at this point is futile," said Gary Fong, 65, a retired school guidance counselor and former Army intelligence officer. "We want to do our part to express to [US President George W.] Bush and the government that change needs to be made."

In New York, the procession of protesters stretched for several blocks and was joined by union members, representatives of the Reverend Jesse Jackson's Rainbow-PUSH Coalition and war veterans.

Actor Tim Robbins, speaking at an earlier 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," said Robbins, a frequent anti-war protest participant. "That's the message they sent last November in the election. When are we going to start listening to them?"

Police lined sidewalks, and some walked ahead of the protesters as they marched toward the offices of New York senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Demonstrators carried signs reading "Impeach Bush" and "Not one more dollar, not one more death."

Unopposed

No counter-demonstrators were visibly present in New York, as they had been at an anti-war rally in Washington on Saturday that drew thousands to the Pentagon and the Lincoln Memorial.

In San Francisco, police spokesman said the department no longer estimates crowd sizes, but that at least 3,000 protesters appeared to be headed toward the march's closing rally near City Hall.

Chants of "Money for jobs and education, not for war and occupation!" echoed among the buildings as marchers beat drums, danced and carried banners pushing an array of causes.

A few counter-protesters waving US flags also gathered in what they described as a show of support for US troops.

"It's important to make sure that the sacrifices that we've already made are worth it," said Leigh Wolf, 20, a San Francisco State University student. "This is a war we can still win."
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