FAYETTEVILLE - Despite the 46-degree temperature and blustery conditions, hundreds of protesters gathered in downtown Fayetteville on Saturday to participate in the now-annual Fayetteville Peace March & Rally.

At first glance, the event commemorating the fourth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq looked much like it has in its three previous years -- with bright signs, live music, anti-war speakers and catchy slogans.

But the protesters' sentiment this year had changed.

Rather than simply demanding the troops be brought home, this year's message was more political and addressed recent events such as the Democratic takeover in Congress and the Walter Reed Army Hospital scandal.

"We want to see to it [that] we don't have to come back here next year, if the new Democratic Congress has the courage to fulfill the job they were hired to do," said Christina Stableford, a member of Code Pink, a mostly female anti-war group that co-sponsored the event.

There were also more military veterans on hand this year.

"I'm getting tired of protesting," said Kenneth Ashe, an Asheville resident and member of Veterans for Peace.

"I'd rather go back to my normal life. But I still feel an obligation to uphold the Constitution of the United States, and our current administration is destroying the Constitution."

For others, the reason to attend was not political at all.

Eleven-year-old Griffin Allen of Fayetteville attended with her grandmother, toting a fluorescent pink sign that said simply, "Bring my Dad home now."

"It's been tough," she said. "We get to talk once a week. ... I try to make life here sound good because I don't want him to worry too much."

Starting at noon, Allen and the other protesters marched about a mile to Rowan Park, where the rally was held. Along the way they chanted slogans, including "Impeach Bush," "Cheney first" and "No justice, no peace, U.S. out of the Middle East."

They also waved dozens of signs from the simple "End the war on Iraq" to the more political "We need a diplomatic surge."

But not all of the protesters in Fayetteville on Saturday were against the war. A smaller group of three dozen pro-war demonstrators came to the event as well.

They were limited to a hill overlooking Rowan Park and came with their own chants, music and signs.

"It's so important that we support [the soldiers]," said Diane Fanning of Fayetteville. "My husband was a Vietnam veteran, and they were not supported. He had vegetables thrown at him and was called a baby killer."

Fanning called out to the peace protesters using a megaphone: "Here, chickie, chickie, chickie," she called. "C'mon, all you chickens!"

Police kept the two groups separated, though one man was arrested after refusing to follow police orders to move away from the pro-war crowd.

The highlight of the afternoon's numerous speakers was Rev. William Barber II, president of the NAACP of North Carolina.

Barber said the country is so divided because this war has become a moral question.

"At the core, there may be some anti-Bush sentiment," he said. "But people have a deep sense of how morally wrong this war was. The issue now is how can we even honor the dead? I think the only way we can is to pull the troops out and bring them home and make sure they have the proper care."

And even though the protesters said they remain dedicated to the cause, there were some signs that the event's four-year run was longer than many of them expected in the beginning.

Cary resident Roger Ehrlich comes each year and displays black umbrellas he calls "peace parasols," which have been painted with bright messages of peace and hope.

Ehrlich used to paint an umbrella for every soldier killed in the war, but he said he had to stop.

"We're not doing the memorial umbrellas anymore," he said. "We couldn't keep up with the deaths."

Rally organizer Chuck Fager said he had no attendance figure, but thought it was less than last year's 1,000 attendants.

"A lot of people went to [this weekend's anti-war rally in] Washington, D.C., and a lot of people stayed home because of the weather," he said. "We still put on a great program."