Tens of thousands of protestors in Washington and California carried banners and shouted slogans Saturday, calling for an end to the war in Iraq, DPA reported. The protests marked the sixth anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq on March 20, 2003. The ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) Coalition said more than 10,000 people marched towards the Pentagon and corporations in Virginia. "This was a significant protest as it's the first one since (president George W) Bush left office. It was important as we were hoping that (US President Barack) Obama would end the occupation of Iraq," the coalition's national coordinator Brian Becker told Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA). "Bush is gone, but the occupation of Iraq continues, the war in Afghanistan is escalating and the people of Palestine are living under a state of siege." The protestors who marched for four and a half hours included Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans, members of local Arab and Muslim communities, students and trade unionists. They waved large banners that said, "Occupation is a crime," Bring the troops home now," "We need jobs and schools, not war," "Fund people's needs not the war machines." Similar protests in Los Angeles and San Francisco drew 4,000 people each, the ANSWER coalition said. Riot police armed with rubber bullets and tear gas canisters were on alert in all three cities. There were no arrests in Washington, but the demonstrators claimed they were attacked several times in San Francisco.
