Large crowds of anti-war demonstrators turned out in New York City, Saturday. Protesters marched in the streets there and in several major U.S. cities to protest the Bush administration's policy in Iraq.
A coalition of around 70 anti-war groups led the march down Manhattan's world-famous Broadway, closing the storied avenue and filling it with the clamor of dissent.
Marchers carried signs saying "the world says no to war, Bush, you are not the messiah and no more blood for oil."
One protester named Laurie, says she hopes the world is watching.
"It's important for the world to see that there are many people in the United States who do not support what the administration is doing, and that dissent is patriotism," she said. "This is not a monolithic nation, and that many people are concerned about international human rights, and the rights of the Iraqi people."
More than 100,000 people marched three kilometers through the center of the city.
In Washington, several hundred demonstrators rallied near the White House. Many chanting and carried pink and orange signs. Anti-war marches were also held in Chicago, San Francisco and Atlanta.
It has also been a day of protest outside the United States. Tens of thousands of anti-war demonstrators marched through London. In Dhaka, Bangladesh, a half day strike was observed in protest of U.S. military action, with protesters rallying in the streets. In Tokyo, hundreds held up photographs of Iraqi children wounded in the 1991 Gulf War.
Back in New York, a participant in many Vietnam War era protests, Alan Feigenberg, says that current demonstrations are as impressive as any he has seen.
"I think this is incredible," he said. "The fact that the war has started and so many people are coming out to oppose it, and how it's so multinational and how there's so many young people. A lot of people we've talked to have never been in protests before. This is critical that this has happened."
Counter-demonstrations were conducted in some U.S. cities in which marchers appealed for support of the invasion or U.S. troops.
