Thousands protest wars

March 21, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

Thousands of protesters carried signs that read “Indict Bush Now” and flag-draped cardboard coffins Saturday urging the immediate withdrawal of all troops sent into combat overseas.

Protesters rallied at Lafayette Park across from the White House and then began marching through downtown seven years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Seven protesters, including activist Cindy Sheehan, were arrested after the rally. Stops on the march route included military contractor Halliburton, the Mortgage Bankers Association and The Washington Post offices.

The protest — which calls for the immediate withdrawal of troops sent to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan — drew a smaller crowd than the tens of thousands who marched in 2006 and 2007. But organizers said many more people have become disenchanted with President Barack Obama, who has pledged to withdraw troops from Iraq, because he ordered more troops into Afghanistan.

Sheehan began shouting “arrest that war criminal” through a bullhorn and pointing to the White House from an area of sidewalk park police had closed off Saturday afternoon. The other six protesters were among a group of more than a dozen who had lain down on the sidewalk next to the row of cardboard coffins.

Anna Berlinrut, of South Orange, N.J., was one of a number of protesters who have children who have served in Iraq and said her son supports her protests.

“If there were a draft, we’d have a million people out here,” Berlinrut said when asked about the turnout. The exact number of protesters was unclear, as D.C. authorities do not give out crowd estimates.

The protest at Lafayette Park was peaceful, although police closed a portion of the sidewalk in front of the White House fence after protesters tried to use mud and large stencils to spell out “Iraq veterans against the war.”

Once the sidewalk was closed, the protesters stenciled the message on the street using mud they had carried in buckets to the rally.

In Los Angeles, hundreds chanted anti-war slogans and carried mock tombstones. The march, which was under a mile, was expected to culminate with a rally in front of the famed Grauman’s Chinese Theater.

In New York City, there were far fewer protesters at a similar rally. A few dozen enthusiastic protesters gathered near a military recruiting station in Times Square, though they were far outnumbered by uninterested tourists.

A group of older women calling themselves the Raging Grannies sang, “The country is broke; this war is a joke.”