Passion and Criticism Mark Arlington Protest (WP- Vigils near pentagon)

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(Peace Vigils occured all over the Metro DC area this weekend...fortunately, the WP did a good story on ONE of the Peace Vigils, page A13 in the paper copy)

Passion and Criticism Mark Arlington Protest
Anniversary Enlarges Capitol Vigil

By Ian Shapira
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 20, 2005; Page A12

It was not a combustible affair. No thundering battle cries through megaphones to tens of thousands of people. No police officers clad in riot gear, or wall of city buses serving as a barricade.

Sponsored by a small group of Arlington County Unitarians -- a religious group that promotes tolerance -- the demonstration was billed as a vigil, but the 45-minute service at Clarendon and Wilson boulevards was filled with singing, and pointed remarks aimed at the Bush administration.

The Arlington event was one of hundreds of demonstrations across the nation yesterday. More than 700 U.S. cities and towns were scheduled to hold antiwar events this weekend, twice the number when protesters marked the war's first anniversary, according to United for Peace and Justice, an umbrella organization of more than 800 antiwar groups.

War protesters also turned out in larger numbers at the weekly vigil on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol, said Anne Bridgman, 46, a freelance writer who came to the Clarendon demonstration from the vigil in the District.