I didn’t make the protest in downtown Rochester this afternoon, but the news media did. I think the “Free Saddam” sign was what really set my so-very liberal wife off. Across the nation and the rest of the world, people used the war’s anniversary as a rally point. Here in Rochester, protesters took to the streets. Block by block, they spread their message throughout downtown.

‘This was a war that was based on lies and a war that is fundamentally unjust,’ said Ream Kidane, a college student who came out Saturday.

The second anniversary of the US-led invasion into Iraq was a day people like Kidane said they wish they could take back.

“I have friends that are in the military. I have peers at school that have been ripped out of their classes to go to Iraq,” Kidane said.

The Rochester protest was just one of hundreds taking place simultaneously all across that nation. They say that with more than 1,000 soldiers killed, and even more Iraqis slain in ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom,’ it is time to end this war now.

“I think that those of us that want to bring the troops home, those of us who disagree with the war and want to bring the troops home are the ones that are actually supporting the troops,” Kidane said.

It’s a mindset that Marilyn and Bill Fisher also share. They are parents of a son in the army reserve who just served 10 months in Iraq.

“I wish that every American who supports this war could feel the pain and anguish that President Bush is causing American, Iraqi and other families,” Marilyn said, addressing a crowd at the rally. R News