Protest theme is troops' surge

Lobbying is next, demonstrators say

WASHINGTON -- Tens of thousands of protesters converged on the National Mall on Saturday to oppose President Bush's plan for a troop increase in Iraq in what organizers hoped would be one of the largest shows of anti-war sentiment in the nation's capital since the war began.

The event drew demonstrators from across the country, and many said that in addition to taking their discontent to the streets they planned to press members of Congress to oppose the war.

"When we voted, it was a directive to bring our troops home now," said the Rev. Graylan S. Hagler of Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ in Washington, referring to the November elections when Democrats won control of Congress.

Demonstrators listened to speeches from a roster of politicians and entertainment figures including the Rev. Jesse Jackson; Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich, D-Ohio, and a candidate for the presidential nomination in 2008; and Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif. Actors Jane Fonda, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins also addressed the crowd.

United for Peace and Justice, a coalition group sponsoring the protest, had hoped 100,000 would come. They claimed even more afterward, but police, who no longer give official estimates, said privately the crowd was smaller than 100,000, news services reported.

With Bush facing low approval ratings and Congress continuing to debate the terms of a nonbinding resolution opposing the troop increase, grandmothers in wheelchairs, housewives pushing strollers, seasoned dissenters in tie-dye and veterans in uniform turned out to take their discontent to the streets.

A small contingent of about 20 active-duty service members turned out; veterans were more numerous among the crowd.

Dressed in the olive green, military-issued flight jacket that he said he wore during the invasion of Iraq while serving as a Marine sergeant, Jack Teller, 26, said he joined a caravan of vans coming from Greenville, N.C., because he felt that it was his duty. The jacket now has "Iraq Veterans Against the War" stenciled on the back.

Wearing it, he said, "reminds me that I participated in an immoral and illegal war. But it's important to make a political statement."