Thousands protest war in Washington

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Protestants

Denouncing a conflict entering its fifth year, protesters across the country raised their voices against US policy in Iraq and marched by the thousands to the Pentagon in the footsteps of an epic demonstration four decades ago against another divisive war.

Shivering from cold, thousands marched in Washington from the Lincoln Memorial to a rally across the road from the sprawling building to demand that US President George W.Bush bring the troops home and that Democrats use their control of Congress to cut off money for the fighting.

A counter-protest was staged, too, on a day of duelling signs and sentiments such as "Illegal Combat" and "Peace Through Strength," and songs like "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "War (What's It Good For?)." Both sides shouted at each other but were largely kept apart by barriers and police on horseback.

Five people were arrested after the demonstration when they walked onto a bridge that had been closed off to accommodate the protest and then refused orders to leave so police could reopen it to traffic, according to Pentagon police. They were cited and released, according to officials.

Speakers at the Pentagon rally criticised the Bush administration at every turn but also blamed congressional Democrats as too being timid in opposition to the war.

Protesters walked in a blustery, cold wind across the Potomac River with police motorcycles clearing their way as other police watched from boats and helicopters.

An hour into the three-hour rally, with the temperature near freezing, the number of protesters dwindled until where fewer than 1,000 were left.

A January anti-war protest, with fine weather and celebrities on the stage including Vietnam-era activist Jane Fonda, drew more people.

Veterans in the counter-protest lined up at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and waved U.S, POW-MIA and military-unit flags.

The march followed the path of a 1967 demonstration that turned into a melee between authorities and radical elements of the crowd on the plaza in front of the Pentagon. More than 600 protesters were arrested that day and several made it inside the building, a development much less likely today, given the tighter security introduced after the September 11th, 2001 attacks.

The 1967 protest endures in the public imagination because the crowd chanted as one in an attempt to levitate the building, a fanciful goal never reached.