'JAIL TO THE CHIEF'

In the anti-war protest, one sign near the front read, "The worst tyrants ever: Napoleon, Hitler and Bush." Others read, "Jail to the chief" and "Impeach Bush for war crimes." Many protesters chanted "Troops out now."'

Frustration over the Iraq war cost Bush's Republicans control of Congress in elections last year and is the main reason his poll numbers are stuck near 30 percent, the lowest of his presidency.

Bush also faces other problems, including complaints of poor health care for U.S. veterans, the perjury conviction of a former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney and an uproar over the firing of U.S. prosecutors that has prompted calls for the ouster of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Bush announced in January he was sending 21,500 additional troops to Iraq, further stoking anger over the war. The number of extra troops being sent has climbed to around 30,000 with the addition of support troops. His plan aims to quell violence in Baghdad and the western province of Anbar.

The march marked the latest protest in Washington against the war in which more than 3,200 U.S. troops have died.

Police in Los Angeles said they expected 5,000-10,000 protesters for an anti-war rally there. In downtown Hollywood, many protesters carried signs in Spanish and there were at least 12 fake coffins covered with the American flag.

One sign read "Iraq is Bush's Vietnam" and another read, "Bush lies, soldiers die." People chanted "Bring the troops home now" and "No more war."

Other demonstrations were planned for Austin, Texas, San Francisco and Seattle. Protests were also staged or planned in Australia, Britain, and Canada.

Democrats in Congress are wrestling with legislation to set deadlines on the U.S. military presence in Iraq. A proposal to be debated soon in the House of Representatives would tie approval of $124 billion in emergency war funds to a troop pullout by September 2008.

Warning that a U.S. withdrawal would worsen the violence in Iraq, Bush has labeled such proposals an attempt by lawmakers to "micromanage" the war and has threatened a veto.

"The consequences of imposing such an artificial timetable would be disastrous," Bush said in his weekly radio address on Saturday.

(Additional reporting by Nicola Groom in Los Angeles and James Vicini in Washington)

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