BEIJING, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of people took to the streets in Western countries on Saturday, chanting anti-war slogans to mark the third anniversary of war against Iraq.

    In the United States which led the war, anti-war protests were held in Washington D.C., New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and dozens of small and mid-sized cities. They were organized by several groups including the ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) coalition.

    Demonstrators strongly urged an immediate, complete and unconditional U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq.

    "Public opinion is now overwhelmingly on our side as it becomes clearer every day that this occupation itself is the source of the violence in Iraq," said organizer Dustin Langley.

    "But politicians of neither party are going to end the war, so we have to get back on the streets," Langley said.

    The anti-war movement "is going into cities, towns and neighborhoods in decentralized actions," said ANSWER coalition national coordinator Brian Becker in a statement ahead of the protests.

    In New York, around 1,000 protesters rallied in Time Square. Speakers denounced the administration and the continuing U.S. military presence in Iraq one by one.

    Anti-war sentiment in the United States is at an all-time high now. Heavy casualties and expenditures in the three-year-old war have resulted in pessimism over U.S. President George W. Bush's Iraq policy. His approval rating has dropped to around 35 percent, according to recent polls.

    In a weekly Saturday radio address, Bush defended his decision to launch the war against Iraq, and vowed to quell the violence there that has killed more than 2,300 U.S. soldiers and countless Iraqi civilians.

    "We will finish the mission," said Bush. "By defeating the terrorists in Iraq, we will bring greater security to our own country."

    In neighboring Canada, hundreds of people took to the streets of Toronto as part of the international protests against the war in Iraq and Canada's military involvement in Afghanistan.

    Carrying signs of "Troops out of Iraq," the protestors gathered in front of the U.S. consulate in Toronto.

    Sid Lacombe, a member of the Canadian Peace Alliance (CPA), said he expected demonstrations to take place across Canada altogether in 36 different cities and towns.

    In London, tens of thousands of anti-war protesters turned out in downtown areas, calling on British troops to pull out of Iraq.     

    They gathered in the Parliament Square with pictures of bullet holes paved on the grass before setting off for a demonstration around central London.

    The protest organized by Stop The War Coalition and the Muslim Association of Britain attracted 80,000 to 100,000 people.

    "The war in Iraq did more harm than good. It's time to let Iraqi people rule their own country," said one protester at the Trafalgar Square where the march ended.

    In Rome, protestors from all over Italy marched through Rome carrying banners with slogans calling for peace, stopping the war and urging the pullout of foreign troops from Iraq.

    At the end of the march which was also attended by some Americans, the demonstrators gathered at the Navona square in Central Rome and held a peace rally there.

    In Stockholm, about 1,000 demonstrators gathered for a rally before a planned march to U.S. Embassy. They carried banners reading "No to U.S. war mongering" and "USA out of Iraq," while some held up a U.S. flag with the white stars replaced by dollar signs.

    In Greece, around 600 protestors marched through central Athensto the U.S. embassy, chanting "Stop the War now" and "American killers get out of Iraq."

    Also on Saturday, thousands of protestors in Australia, Turkey, and across a number of Asian countries were marching through cities and demanding a withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq.  Enditem