Thousands protest Iraq occupation

LOS ANGELES -- Thousands took to the streets of Hollywood Sunday to protest the occupation of Iraq in one of several weekend demonstrations around the world criticizing the Bush administration.\nAn estimated 3,000 people took part in the peaceful march and rally, some chanting, "George Bush, Uncle Sam, Iraq will be your Vietnam," while walking down Sunset Boulevard.\nSimilar rallies were held in Boston and San Francisco and followed international protests Saturday in London, Athens, Paris and other cities.\nNo arrests or injuries were reported in the Los Angeles protest, which drew a diverse group from war veterans to parents with children in strollers. Some demonstrators carried signs saying "Recall Bush" and "Iraq Equals Quagmire."\n"We are supposed to be a democratic, free nation and I want to express my feelings against this criminal administration," said Pilar Happori, 58, of Garden Grove. "This is a dangerous administration for destroying not only the U.S., but the world."\nAt the rally, Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich said U.S. troops should be pulled out of Iraq and replaced by international forces.\n"We need to get the U.N. in and the U.S. out," Kucinich said. "There can be a way to extricate this nation from the quicksand of Iraq."\nFernando Suarez del Solar of Escondido, whose 20-year-old son died in March while fighting in Iraq, led the crowd in chants of "Bring them home now!"\n"My son was a peace lover. He was a soldier for peace, not for oil," said Suarez, holding a picture of his son in his Marine uniform.\nThe protest was the first major demonstration in Los Angeles since Saddam Hussein's regime was ousted. Demonstrators also included the Palestinian cause at the rally. Several coffins were rolled through the streets by supporters of the free Palestine movement.\nIn Boston, an estimated 150 protesters demonstrating the government's Iraq policy, the Palestinian cause and other issues waved rainbow flags and chanted as they marched behind a pickup truck from the city's Copley Square to the Park Plaza Hotel. No arrests were reported.