SAN FRANCISCO, March 21: Two days of anti-war demonstrations were held over the weekend in San Francisco, San Jose and several other Californian towns to mark the second anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. The San Francisco protest drew people from all over northern California. They carried mock coffins draped in American flags, images of maimed Iraqi children and umbrellas with peace signs.

Drummers marched alongside protesters with signs bearing messages such as “Un-happy Anniversary USA,” “Impeach Bush” and “military recruiters lie, our children die.” A woman dressed up to resemble the famous photo of the hooded prisoner from Abu Ghraib prison, attracted the attention of the demonstrators. The woman was surrounded by demonstrators wearing masks of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, President George Bush and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Eight people were arrested for blocking an intersection, according to police. The protests in San Francisco, just after the war began in March 2003, were among the most vocal and angry in the country, with thousands of arrests and frequent conflicts between police and demonstrators. Police claimed that the protests were costing the city upward of 900,000 dollars a day in overtime and other costs.