Thousands Protest Bush Policy

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Thousands Rally Against the War
Raucous and colorful multitude of protesters stage a series of rallies and a march on the Capitol to demand that the United States end its war in Iraq.

"I don't know what else to say, other than: 'Bring them home,' " she said. "It is time. We need to bring them home where they can be safe."

The main rally began at 11 a.m. on the Mall and featured more speeches and a crowd that seemed to grow as the weather warmed.

In addition to Fonda and Jackson, actors Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins addressed the protesters.

Robbins mocked President Bush, urging Congress to impeach him.

"Let's get him out of office before he's ruling from a bunker," Robbins said.

"Impeach Bush!'' the crowd began to chant, interspersed with a few shouts of "And Cheney!"

"Richard Nixon talked to the walls," Robbins continued. "But George Bush is talking to God. But it is not a God I recognize. This God seems to be giving Bush a pass" on some commandments.

Colin Fallon, who works at the Government Accountability Office, and his wife, Melinda, a history professor at George Mason University, came to the demonstration from Fairfax with their three children.

Melinda Fallon guided her son through the crowd, talking about Americans. "They can say when they don't agree with what's going on," she told him.

"We're looking at more or less a 30-years-war here," Colin Fallon said. "All the indications are bad. I think about these kids. If they were asked to fight, would I think they would be able to help the situation as soldiers? I don't think so. I think it has become something of a war of attrition."

Laura Sinderbrand, 79, and her husband, Alvin, 84, of New York, said they attended dozens of Washington protests against the Vietnam War during the 1960s and early '70s.

"The biggest difference back then, of course, was the draft," said Alvin Sinderbrand, a retired patent lawyer. "That made everything much more emotional. There was a sense that everybody was vulnerable."