Hundreds around Bay Area protest Iraq war escalation

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/11/BAGNVNHDHF5.DTL

Hundreds of anti-war protesters converged on downtown San Francisco Thursday evening, temporarily shutting down Market Street during rush hour to protest the increase of U.S. troops in Iraq.

The roughly 350 demonstrators at Hallidie Plaza near the Powell Street cable car turnaround were just one of roughly a dozen protests around the region opposing President Bush's intention to send an additional 21,500 troops to Iraq. Other protests were scheduled in Alameda, Berkeley, Mountain View, Oakland and Palo Alto.

The rhetoric was heated. One Jewish man held a sign with a swastika made up of Bush administration names, declaring that they were the "4th Reich," a reference to Nazis. But the protest was peaceful. The marchers tromped along Market, Fourth, Mission and Sixth streets before returning to the plaza.

At the Montgomery Street BART station, about 150 protesters -- mostly women wearing pink sweaters and jackets -- held candles, sang songs and carried a giant puppet dove, made of white fabric.

"We are on the cusp of a terribly dangerous time,'' said protester Lynn Feinerman of Marin City. "The people who are ruling us are insane. They have lost touch with reality.''

for an emergengy demo (about 200 or so) in Albuquerque, NM at Pete Dominici's distict office. Lots of people honked. Much fewer beligerents types giving the bird or even looking away in disdain.