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Having failed to keep U.S. troops out of Iraq, anti-war protesters are marching to bring them home.

Opponents of the conflict said U.S. troops should quickly leave Iraq rather than remain in a region once controlled by western powers.

"People are stepping forward and saying occupation is not liberation," said Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, a civil rights lawyer and an organizer of a Saturday rally here sponsored by International Answer. "Whether they can conquer it militarily is one thing, whether they can turn it into an obedient client state is another."

Protesters also were gathering Saturday in Los Angeles and San Francisco. But organizers said they expected far fewer people than at previous protests that attracted demonstrators in numbers not seen since the Vietnam War.

In the nation's capital, organizers obtained a permit for 20,000 demonstrators, far fewer than the tens of thousands of protesters who filled blocks of city streets in both January and March. This time, instead of only marching past the White House and Justice Department, the protest route ran past offices of companies that organizers said are profiting from the war and past media organizations they said ignored the plight of Iraqi civilians.

D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey said Friday he expected the rally to be peaceful. "We always prepare for the worst, but we're optimistic that we won't have any problems."

Supporters of the war planned their own rally Saturday, featuring Watergate conspirator-turned-conservative talk show host G. Gordon Liddy; Republican senator-turned-TV actor Fred Thompson; and country music singer Aaron Tippin. Participants were being asked to bring letters of support for the troops along with items needed by U.S. forces in Iraq, such as baby wipes, sunscreen, toothpaste and prepaid international calling cards.

The event was organized by Citizens United, headed by former congressional aide David Bossie, one of President Clinton's severest critics; and the Young America's Foundation, headed by Floyd Brown, architect of the Willie Horton ads that helped elect the first President Bush.

They were expecting a much larger crowd than the 100 or so counterdemonstrators who waived signs along the last anti-war march route.

"We are trying to send a clear message to America and to the world that the United States is together in supporting the president and our troops as they prosecute the war on terror," Bossie said.

For activists, the Iraq war has overshadowed the spring meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. While previous meetings of the financial institutions have served a magnet for thousands of demonstrators, a protest Thursday morning attracted just 20 protesters, and organizers expect no more than 2,000 people for a Sunday rally and march.

"Because of the war, everyone recognizes there's a very immediate emergency," said Soren Ambrose, a spokesman for the 50 Years Is Enough Network, a coalition of groups opposed to the two financial institutions. "The World Bank and the IMF are taking a momentary back seat."

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photo credit and caption:

--Sharon Osbourne celebrates after winning the Emmy for Outstanding Non-Fiction Program (Reality) for "The Osbournes" at the 2002 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards Saturday, Sept. 14, 2002,in Los Angeles. Osbourne will go head-to-head with Queen Elizabeth II on television Christmas Day. Britain's Commercial station Channel 4 announced Wednesday,Dec.4, that Osbourne's address will air at exactly he same time the queen is to give her traditional address on BBC.(AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

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