War opponents want troops to come home

Opponents of the war in Iraq want their protest on the National Mall to launch a nationwide movement to bring the troops home.

Demonstrators chartered buses, bought plane tickets and filled their gas tanks to join Saturday's rally, and hundreds of them planned to flood congressional offices Monday to lobby for a troop withdrawal.

Plans call for rallies across the country and visits to members of Congress when they return home to their districts.

United for Peace and Justice, a coalition group sponsoring the protest, said there has been intense interest in the rally since President Bush announced he was sending 21,500 additional troops to Iraq.

The group said its Internet site received more than 5 million hits this month, including 650,000 on Wednesday _ the day leaders held a media briefing about the protest.

A small group of active-duty military troops will attend the protest, said Navy petty officer Jonathan Hutto. The sailor, stationed about the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, said he planned to speak.

Cynthia O. Smith, a Defense Department spokeswoman, said members of the Armed Forces can speak out, subject to several restrictions. They must not do so in uniform, and they must make clear that they do not speak on behalf of their military unit, their service or the Defense Department, unless authorized to do so, she said.

The rally was scheduled as congressional opposition to the war is building. The Senate is considering nonbinding resolutions that would state opposition to Bush sending the extra forces to Iraq.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi led a delegation to Iraq on Friday, while Bush met with military leaders in the Oval Office.

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On the Net:

United for Peace and Justice: http://www.unitedforpeace.org/