Tens of thousands demonstrate across Europe, US against war
LONDON -- Tens of thousands of antiwar protesters demonstrated across Europe yesterday to mark the second anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq, with 45,000 Britons marching from London's Hyde Park past the American Embassy to Trafalgar Square.
British elections, expected in May, lent an added charge to the largest protest, in London, where Prime Minister Tony Blair's staunch backing of the war has diminished his base of support.
Police said about 45,000 demonstrators participated in a march; organizers put the number at 100,000. Several army veterans were among the crowd.
''I disagreed with [the war] to start with because I was suspicious of the weapons-of-mass- destruction claims," said Ray Hewitt, 34, a veteran of the 1991 Gulf War. ''I saw the Iraqi Army in 1991, and we destroyed it."
Activists in the United States also marched against the war.
In Fayetteville, N.C., one of the most deeply rooted military communities, nearly 3,000 peace activists, war veterans, and their family members gathered to call for an end to the conflict.
Among the dozens of speakers was Michael Hoffman, who was a Marine artilleryman during the invasion of Iraq and who last July founded a group called Iraq Veterans Against the War. ''Two years ago today, many of us standing on this stage were ready to wage destruction on Iraq," said Hoffman, 25, wearing the top of his desert camouflage uniform and a pin reading ''Bush lied."
In New York and other cities, protesters stopped traffic and lay down alongside flag-draped cardboard coffins. About 350 people in New York listened to antiwar speeches at the United Nations, then marched across Manhattan to Times Square.
In San Francisco, hundreds of protesters rallied in Dolores Park in the city's Mission district. The protesters then marched to City Hall for another rally.
In Istanbul, an estimated 15,000 people, some carrying signs reading ''Murderer Bush, get out," marched in the Kadikoy neighborhood.
Two marchers dressed as US soldiers pretended to rough up a third, dressed as a detainee with a sack on his head, in a mimed criticism of how some in the US military treated Iraqi prisoners.
In Poland, which commands a multinational security force in Iraq that includes 1,700 Polish troops, about 500 protesters marched to the US Embassy in Warsaw, holding banners reading ''Pull out from Iraq now" and ''Poles back to Poland."
''We are protesting this war in Iraq because it has no point," said Klaudia Kosicinska, 17, a high school student. ''Only innocent people are killed, and nothing good results from it."
At an antiwar march in the industrial city of Katowice, protesters, including one dressed as a blindfolded Statue of Liberty, urged the United States and Britain to leave Iraq.
In Athens, about 3,000 trade unionists, members of peace groups, and students brought the city center to a standstill for about three hours as they marched to the US Embassy.
In Sweden, about 300 protesters filled Sergel Square in downtown Stockholm, chanting, ''USA, out of Iraq!"
With music and banners, marchers in Rome called for the withdrawal of Italian troops from Iraq. ''Iraq to the Iraqis!" one sign read.
Material from The 
