US, Iraq anti-war protests mark 6th anniversary

Demonstrators throughout the United States held a nationwide Day of Action Saturday to commemorate the sixth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq that went unmarked by Iraqi authorities or the U.S. military

The largest rallies took place Saturday in Washington D.C., San Francisco and Los Angeles while smaller ones across the states from Seattle to Bergen County, New Jersey sought to maintain pressure on the new administration to fulfill its promise to withdraw troops from Iraq.

Washington D.C.

The March on the Pentagon protest drew hundreds of peace activists who walked from the White House to the Pentagon in Virginia carrying banners that read "End the war now," "Bring all our troops home," and "Stop occupation."

Demonstrators carried 170 coffins covered in the flags of an array of countries where American aggression had killed innocent civilians. Nearly 100,000 Iraq civilians have been killed by violence since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, according to Iraq Body Count, and continue to live in fear of deadly, indiscriminate attacks.

Several anti-war organizations participated in the march including veteran groups like the Iraq Veterans Against the War – marked by their black t-shirts and military khakis - and Veterans for Peace and Arab and Muslim groups including the National Council of Arab Americans and the Muslim American Society Freedom.

According to the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, 4,260 American soldiers have been killed since the war began. U.S. forces are set to withdraw from major cities within three months in a prelude to total pullout in 2011.

California

Protests throughout California drew thousands, from star-studded Hollywood to liberal San Francisco and sunny San Diego, who turned out to call for withdrawal from Iraq.

In San Francisco more than a dozen demonstrators carrying banners like one that read "Bring the troops home now" were arrested after shutting down the main artery Market Street twice, said police.

Several banners called for freeing Palestine and withdrawing from Afghanistan, and when the march arrived at the Civic Center Plaza downtown the largely pro-Arab demonstrators were met by pro-Israeli protesters holding banners that read “Hamas, stop using children as human shields."

In San Diego, anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, whose son was killed in the Iraq war, spoke at a rally of about 150 people, criticizing the government’s funding of conflicts overseas during the worst economic crisis in a generation.

In Hollywood, demonstrators staged a die-in to commemorate the anniversary while others carried banners that read "War is not the solution," "We won't bend over," and "Education not war."

A life size paper figure of a soldier with an amputated leg, made by coordinator of Military Families Speak Out in Orange County Ed Garza, held a banner that read "Bring me home."

In Iraq on Friday thousands of protesters largely loyal to the radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr held demonstrations in Baghdad and several Iraqi cities where they burned American flags and chanted "No to occupation. Yes to liberation."

For video of San Francisco protest visit: http://evideo.alarabiya.net/ShowClip.aspx?clipid=2009.03.22.00.51.17.620